


A Poison that Never Stung

by thisdorkyficthing



Series: Biker!Thor 'Verse [1]
Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bikers, Alternate Universe - Human, Author Knows Nothing About Motorcycles, Biker!Thor, Falling In Love, Happy Ending, Loki Has Issues, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Protective Thor, Slow Build, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-04
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-03-16 06:47:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 18
Words: 51,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3478418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisdorkyficthing/pseuds/thisdorkyficthing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki is a seventeen year old runaway that gets taken in by Thor. (Thor's probably gonna regret it)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Loki whimpered. His whole body throbbed in pain, though his main focus was on his chest, each breath excruciating. The skin on the side of his face felt scraped raw from the concrete (that was probably littered with broken glass) and the coppery taste of blood was heavy on his tongue, making his stomach feel weak and roll.

 _Fuck_ his stupid, running mouth. _Fuck._ He took another shallow, shaking breath.

Hearing the scuffing of boots made him brace himself for another blow, his whole body clenched tight and heart thumping wildly in his ears as he waited. He flinched with each dull thud of body parts colliding together, realizing slowly that it wasn't him getting hit anymore.

He raised his head and peeled his eyes open. Before him were the two guys he'd pissed off, one was in a heap on the ground like Loki was, while the other was hoisted up by the collar of his shirt and being pummeled by a third guy. He was bigger than either of the other two, black leather jacket stretched tight over a broad shoulders and long blond hair tied loosely into a bun at the nape of his neck.

He dropped the other man to the pavement when he went limp in his grip, turning and walking to Loki. He shuddered and dropped his head, curling up automatically to shield himself. The third guy tugged Loki's hands away from his face. “Damn, kid,” he said as he carefully took a hold of Loki's chin and turned his head from side-to-side. Loki wheezed and winced from the pain.

Loki let out a weak yelp as he was suddenly pulled up to his feet by his shirt and jeans, the pain piercing and making his vision go white. He was dragged back into the bar, straight into the grimy bathroom and set on the counter, between the two dirt encrusted sinks. He forced his eyes open when he heard the paper towel dispenser give a metallic whine, the old pipes clunking loudly as the sink was turned on. Loki studied the face before him through the haze of pain and bad lighting as his savior dabbed a wet paper towel on his cut up face.

His eyes looked blue, as far as Loki could make out in the dim lighting. His thick eyebrows furrowed as he carefully wiped Loki's face, the creases between them deep.

“Hold that there,” he demanded softly as he pressed a clean sheet to a large cut on Loki's eyebrow. Loki reached up with a unsteady hand, swaying where he sat.

The man sighed. “You need to go to a hospital.”

Loki straightened and went still, eyes opening wide. “I'm fine, seriously.”

That made him laugh and shake his head. “Got a reason you can't go to a hospital?”

Loki drooped back down, grimacing at the pain in his chest. “I just don't want to.”

The man sighed again, turning away and pulling his phone from his pocket. “Hey Jane, can you do a _tiny_ favor for me and swing by my place after your shift..? No, it's not for me. I just got this kid who got the shit kicked out of him and he doesn't want to go to the hospital... Yeah, that's great, thanks Jane.”

He hung up and turned back to Loki, shoving the phone back into his pocket. “Come on, kid, let's get you out of here.”

He pulled the paper towel out of Loki's hand, helping him off the counter top and dragging him back out of the bar. Loki remembered that he didn't have his bag with him and dug his heels into the floor, forcing the man to come to stop. Loki turned, narrowing his eyes and trying to remember where he set the damn thing. “My bag.”

“Where is it at?”

“I – Um.” Loki turned slowly, trying to see the black lump somewhere along the walls.

“Forget about it, kid. Someone's probably already went through it anyways,” he said, dragging Loki forwards again.

Loki's shoulders slumped. “ _I had my favorite book in there..._ ” Loki shivered violently as they stepped outside and were hit by a gust of cold air. He _also_ had his his favorite hoodie in there.

The other man guided him up to a motorcycle with gleaming red paint, the silver flecks sparkling in the light of the neon sign in front of the bar.

“I hope you're not about to pass out.”

Loki shook his head weakly in answer. He looked at Loki for a moment before pulling off his leather jacket and helping him into it. The leather felt indescribably heavy on Loki's shoulders, the whole thing sagging and drooping weirdly on his narrow frame. Loki watched as the man slipped on a pair of glasses and hopped on to the bike, starting up the thing with a rumble that made Loki flinch.

“ _Come on kid_ ,” he shouted after Loki just stood there and stared at him. Loki carefully climbed on behind him and fisted his hands into the thick cotton at the sides of the man's navy blue hoodie.

The ride was excruciating, the constant vibrations and bumps reverberating through his wrecked body made his teeth clench and eyes tear up. He sobbed in relief when they finally came to a stop. He let himself be helped off the bike and herded into the small, well cared for house they parked beside.

“Hard part's over,” the man said as he pulled his jacket off Loki and lead him to a old, but soft couch, laying him down on it before disappearing and reappearing with a few pills and a glass of water.

“It's just a few ibuprofen to hold you over until my friend can get a look at you,” he said when Loki eyed the pills suspiciously.

Loki took them, guzzling down the water and not even particularly caring if he was getting drugged at that point. He laid back with a groan.

He sat down on the scuffed up coffee table beside Loki, empty glass dangling between his fingers. “What's your name, anyways?”

“Loki,” he answered softly. “Yours?”

“Thor,” he answered. Loki repeated it a few times in his head, making sure to remember it. _Thor Thor Thor_.

Loki dozed on and off to the sound of boots thumping softly around the house, twitching when there was a sharp set of knocks on the door.

Thor ran to answer it. “Hey. Thanks again for coming.”

“No problem,” came a woman's voice. Loki forced his eyes open as the two walked up to the couch.

The woman came and sat where Thor had before, while Thor hung back, hands pushed into the pockets of his jeans. Jane opened the bag sitting beside her hip, pulling out a small flashlight and shining it into Loki's eyes. “What's your name?”

“Loki,” he snapped, squinting and trying to swat the light away.

Jane just pushed his hands back down, checking both eyes again. “I'm Doctor Foster, or well, just call me Jane, since I'm technically off duty.”

“ _Great_ ,” Loki grumbled, blinking the spots out of his eyes as the flashlight was finally turned off.

“Where's the worst of the pain, Loki?” She asked, pulling out some wipes and a few large bandages from her bag.

“My chest,” he said with a slight wheeze as she went to work on his various cuts and scrapes.

Jane hummed and nodded, lifting his ratty t-shirt after she finished bandaging him up, carefully poking and prodding at his ribs, making him hiss and try to twist away.

“It looks like they're just bruised, luckily. It's gonna hurt for a while though.”

“Wow, _brilliant_ fucking deduction, Doctor.”

He could see Thor covering his mouth and trying to hold back his laughter.

Jane just raised an eyebrow at him. “You _might_ want to be nice to me, I've got the _good_ painkillers.” She pulled some out of her bag just then, jiggling the bottle for emphasis. She twisted towards Thor and held it out to him. “I can trust you with these, right?”

“Of _course_ ,” Thor said with a smile as he took the bottle.

“He's just gonna need a lot of rest and ice, I think. Call me if anything gets infected or he keeps having trouble breathing.”

“Alright,” Thor said distractedly as he looked at the label on the orange bottle. Jane turned back and closed up her bag before standing. “Well, Loki, nice meeting you.”

Loki groaned and draped an arm across his face. He listened as Thor and Jane talked at the door, their voices too low for him to make anything out. He dropped his arm when the door shut, watching Thor slowly strut back into the living room and lean against the wall. Now that the rush of fear and pain had begun to subside, Loki realized with a start how _hot_ Thor was. Jeans slung low on his narrow hips, the sleeves of his hoodie pushed up to reveal muscular forearms with thick veins running along them – Loki could only imagine what the rest of it was hiding. He had his thumb pressed between his full lips as he chewed on the nail and read the label of the pill bottle again. Loki licked his dry lips, raking his eyes up and down Thor a few more times, just to make sure he had it burned into his memory.

Loki had done quite a few seedy things since fleeing his last foster home months ago, all for _far_ less noble reasons and with guys he would otherwise never give the time of day too. He could enjoy this, though.

Loki swallowed. He sat up slowly, his body protesting and making his jaw clench. He scooted to the end of the couch, closer to Thor, taking a deep breath to steady his voice. “Thank you for helping me. I think those guys would've killed me if you hadn't stepped in.”

Thor looked from the bottle to Loki. He said nothing and just shrugged a bulky shoulder.

Loki took that as his cue, ignoring the pain and moving the to edge of the couch, reaching for the buckle of Thor's belt. His wrists were caught in one of Thor's big hands before he could even start undoing the thing.

“ _Whoa!_ What the hell are you doing?” Thor looked down at him with wide eyes, pill bottle still clutched in his other hand.

Loki blinked, the confusion probably plain on his face. “ _I_ – I want to repay you?” He hated how unsteady his voice sounded. And how Thor was looking at him like he'd just grown a horn out of the middle of his goddamn forehead.

“You look like couldn't be any older than fifteen and like you just got hit by a goddamn _mack truck._ ”

Thor released Loki's wrists and he yanked his hands back, cradling them against his sore chest, the rebuff stinging him more than he'd like to admit. “I'm _21_ ,” he said petulantly, the lie slipping out of him easily, almost automatically.

Thor let out a huff of laughter, shaking his head. “ _Sure, kid_.”

There was an intensely uncomfortable minute of silence before Thor sighed and asked, “when's the last time you ate?”

Loki glanced back up at him, barely able to look at Thor's face, the combination of pain and shame making his throat tight. He clenched his hands in to fists on his thighs. “I had a snickers bar this afternoon.”

Thor just nodded, looking like he expected that sort of answer and shoved the pill bottle in to his pocket, clomping off towards the kitchen. Loki followed, hobbling behind and leaning in the entryway as Thor looked through his fridge.

“You like scrambled eggs and toast?”

Loki sniffed and nodded. Thor looked back at him, his face twisting into a grimace as he pulled out a carton of eggs and a stick of butter and shut the fridge. “Go and sit down, you're making me sore just looking at you.”

Loki made his way to the table nearby, the hard, wooden chair digging into his aching body and making him hiss. He pillowed his head on his head on his arms, biting his lip to hold back the tears as he listened to Thor cook.

He must've dosed off at some point, his head feeling fuzzy as Thor tapped his shoulder.

“Hey kid, eggs are done. Come on, wake up.”

Loki lifted his head slowly, wincing at the pain. Thor set the plate in front of him, holding a fork out to Loki. Loki rested his head in one hand, taking the utensil with the other. Loki looked at the pile of eggs and toast before him like they were a daunting task while Thor fished the pill bottle out of his pocket. He poured out a couple and placed them beside a glass of water set out just beside the plate.

“Eat first, _then_ take those,” he said firmly, adding, “I'll set up the couch for you while you do, alright?”

Loki nodded numbly, poking at the eggs with his fork. Thor stood there staring at him for a moment before walking away.

Loki's appetite came surging in on the first bite, making the task of eating much easier. His plate was empty in minutes, along with half the glass of water before he'd even remembered the painkillers that were sitting beside it. He gulped them down with the rest of the water and sat back in the chair, already feeling slightly better from just the food alone. Thor came walking back in moments later, smiling at the sight of Loki's empty plate. “Good?”

“ _Amazing_ ,” Loki groaned. Thinking on it a bit, he didn't actually remember the last time he ate something that hadn't come from a vending machine.

Thor nodded and took his plate and glass back in the kitchen. “You want more water?” He asked as he dropped the plate and fork in to the sink with a clatter.

“Yes.”

Thor came back in with the refilled glass, wordlessly pulling Loki up from the chair and leading him into the living room. He helped Loki to the couch, setting the glass down on the water-ring stained coffee table and laying a blanket over him. Loki pressed his face deeper into the pillow, his eyelids already beginning to droop even with the pain.

“Those pills should really kick in soon.”

Loki nodded.

“Well, if you need anything, I'll be in my room.”

“' _Kay_ ,” Loki mumbled, tugging the blanket under his chin.

Thor's hand hovered above his head, hesitating for a moment before patting it gently. “Night.”

Loki just nodded again, his eyes following Thor as he walked across the room and shut the light off before walking through another door.

Loki woke with a dry throat, lead-filled limbs, and freezing cold. Spotting the glass of water on the table with bleary eyes, he snatched it and drank the whole thing in one long pull, feeling slightly less parched now, at least. He was still cold, the thin blanket tangled in his reedy limbs not helping him much. He managed to unravel himself after a few tries, moving with half-open eyes to the door Thor had gone through and making a beeline for the bed, shivering a little as he slipped under the thicker blankets. He scooted up close to Thor, curling in to a ball against his broad, warm back. He barely noticed Thor silently waking up, his whole body going still as Loki pressed his forehead to his shoulder.

“ _Loki,_ ” he said cautiously, his tone giving just a hint of warning. Loki shivered.

Thor sighed, his body sagging. “How old are you, _really?_ ”

“Seventeen,” Loki mumbled, not even thinking to stick with his lie.

“Where are you _supposed_ to be right now?”

Loki's face twisted up as his cotton filled brain very clearly remembered the tiny-ass room he was forced to share with a psychotic ten year old and a pair of four year old twins with a bed wetting habit, and the screechy voiced woman who constantly made him clean all their messes. He'd put miles and miles between them, and every other family he was forcibly shoved in to since he was 12. He didn't realize he was crying until a sob escaped his throat. “Don't send me back there,” he said meekly, wedging his face between the mattress and Thor's body.

Thor moved slowly, forcing Loki back as he rolled on to his back and lifted himself up on to his elbows. The details of his face were impossible to see in the dark as he stared down at Loki. He let out another hiccup of a sob, wiping his bandaged face roughly with the back of his hand.

“ _Shit,_ ” Thor breathed as he looked away, rubbing his eyes roughly. He turned on to his side, facing Loki now, and raked a hand through his greasy hair. “Don't worry about it, kid. Just go to sleep.”

Loki sobbed harder and nodded, curling even tighter into Thor as he looped his arms around Loki. He took short, stuttering breaths as Thor's hand ran up and down his back, the motion lulling him and making him calm down, his hard sobs eventually turning into sniffles that eventually led to him relaxing entirely. The world fading in to dark nothingness as he fell in to a dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Thor watched his mother from the doorway to his bedroom as she sat down on the edge of his bed next to Loki, tossing her thick blonde hair off her shoulder as she leaned closer to get a look at him. “Where'd you find him?” She asked as she pushed Loki's hair back, her mouth twisting into a sympathetic frown at the sight of the cuts and bruises on his sleeping face.

“Getting his ass kicked by a couple of guys in front of The Snakehole,” Thor answered, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the doorjamb. “I bet his chest looks like a rotten piece of fruit by now.” Thor's gaze dragged itself back to Loki, pale skin swollen and mottled with purple and black bruises. He wanted to wince just looking at him. He'd only been driving past the bar when he noticed the two guys -big, bald fuckers- gleefully kicking at a small body lying in a heap on the ground, probably unable to fight back even if he had wanted to. He whipped into the parking lot before he could even think otherwise. The kid had probably said some shit to get such a thorough beat down, but it still rankled Thor that the two men had seen it fit to go at him so hard.

“Poor thing,” his mother whispered.

“I think he's a runaway. He said “don't send me back there” last night. He was kind of half asleep and the painkillers had set in by then, though.”

“Has he seen a doctor?” She asked as she turned towards Thor, Loki still curled up and sound asleep behind her.

Thor nodded. “I had Jane come by and take a look at him after her shift last night, since he didn't want to go to the hospital. She said it was probably just bruised ribs along with the cuts.”

Frigga hummed, crossing her bare arms. “What are you going to do?”

Thor sighed, sagging against the door frame and running a hand down his face. “I'm not just gonna kick him out like this.”

“So you're gonna let him stay?”

“Until he's better, at least.”

Frigga nodded, looking back at Loki and pushing his hair back again. Thor chuckled, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Well, I always wanted a little brother, right?”

Frigga laughed too. “Yes you did, until I told you if you got one you'd get half the Christmas presents you usually got.”

“Can you watch him for a while while I go run that errand for dad?”

“Of course.”

“Great, thanks. I'll head off then.” Thor turned away and started heading towards the front door before he suddenly remembered something that made him duck back in to the room. “Make sure he eats. I fed him last night but I don't think he's been eating that much actual food for a while.”

“Who do you think you're talking too?” She said with a wink.

Thor smiled back and shrugged. “Just making sure. It has been a while since you've had to take care of a kid.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and waved a finger at him, her numerous gold bangles jingling on her wrist. “You watch your mouth,” she said in mock warning.

Thor dashed away with a laugh. He sighed as he stepped outside, glancing along the street as he walked towards his bike. It was still and quiet, only a few barking dogs could be heard, left behind by their families for sunday morning service. He pulled out the pair of sunglasses he had tucked into the neck of his sweatshirt, slipping them on before swinging his leg over his bike and settling on to the seat. It started up with a satisfying rumble and he backed out of the driveway, mindful of his mother's SUV parked beside it, before zipping down the street.

He flew through the town, avoiding the main streets since the churches were probably starting to let out and people would be going to get breakfast and driving way too fucking slow, going through quieter streets and back roads until he saw Sif in the parking lot of a decrepit liquor store. Arms crossed over her chest, she was perched on her own bike, a white, retro looking sportster with maroon accents. A few locks of dark hair had managed to escape her braid flew around with the breeze.

“Good morning,” Thor cheerily shouted over the rumble of his bike as he pulled up beside her, noting her slight grimace. “Have a good Saturday night?” He asked after he cut the engine.

“ _Too_ good,” she grumbled. “I almost told Heimdall to fuck off when he called me this morning.”

Thor wolf-whistled. Sif just groaned softly.

She stole a quick glance at her phone, tucking her arm back against her chest. “This guy better get here soon, I got shit to do.”

“Got a guy still passed out in your bed, I assume?”

“ _And_ a girl,” she mumbled.

Thor raised his eyebrows and chuckled, “ _Damn_. You had a _great_ night, didn't you?”

Sif's frown cracked into a smirk at that, shrugging her narrow shoulders. “How about yours?”

“Ah well... I saved a kid from getting beaten to death. So _that's_ something.”

Sif's eyebrow arched over one bleary eye. “Really?”

Thor shrugged. “I wasn't just gonna drive past that.”

Sif just hummed and nodded her head slowly, the both of them turning to look down the road at the sound of a car puttering towards them.

The car was a beater, huge patches deep blue paint rusted off while what was left was caked in dirt. The driver made a sharp turn in to the parking lot, the brakes grinding loudly and bald tires skidding to a halt beside them. Thor and Sif shared a disbelieving look before standing from their bikes. They stood side-by-side as they watched the driver fumble around in his car before finally stumbling out, a few empty cans from energy drinks tumbling out to the cracked pavement. Thor scrunched his nose at the smell that rolled out along with them, a mix of stale cigarette smoke and B.O. and a few other scents Thor didn't feel inclined to try to pinpoint. The driver's head barely reached Thor's shoulder, his heavily hunched shoulders doing nothing to help his stature. His grimy hands twitched and scratched at the red plastic lunchbox he hugged to his chest, his bloodshot eyes flitting back and forth between him and Sif.

“You guys have my stuff?” He asked, voice high pitched and scratchy.

Thor said nothing and stepped forward, making the man flinch. He held his hand out and the man quickly handed him the lunchbox, practically cowering back against the car. Thor gave him a hard look before opening the box, finding it filled with crumpled bills that had been carefully flattened and stacked. He sifted through it quickly, finding it to be the right amount.

He looked back to Sif, giving her a nod. She pulled a large ziplock back from the inside of her leather jacket, the man's eyes practically lighting up at the sight of the little white pills inside. He practically ran at Sif, stopping dead when Thor's hand shot out and met his sternum over his ratty t-shirt. He wheezed and pulled back just as fast, bumping against his car again when he saw the hard look Thor was giving him.

“Careful there,” Thor grumbled. Sif muttered something under her breath, tossing the bag at the guy, who caught it with a surprising amount of ease. He looked at it like it was more precious than gold.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Sif said, quiet and bland.

The guy acted like he hadn't even heard her, diving back into his car and peeling out of the parking lot with a screech.

Sif curled her lip over her teeth as she turned back to her bike. “ _Eugh_.”

Thor looked down at the lunchbox in his hand, the superhero sticker on the front peeling away from the scratched. He really hoped some kid wasn't gonna be missing this tomorrow morning. “Promise me you won't ever get into this shit.”

“And end up like that guy? _Fuck_ no,” she said as she swung her leg and settled back on to her bike, starting it with a rumble. “You gonna take care of that?”

Thor smirked at her, swinging the lunchbox on his index finger by the little white handle. “What? Are you offering to take it for me?”

Sif let out a bark of laughter before backing up, zipping around Thor and leaving him alone in the lot. Thor snorted and hopped on to his own bike, tucking the lunchbox into his leather jacket before speeding off, heading straight for the clubhouse.

The place was near empty, since everyone was likely sleeping off hangovers or spending time with their families. Thor headed towards the back, where his father's office was, one of the two windowless rooms in the building, the other being where they held the club meetings. His father and Heimdall were hunched over his dark stained wooden desk, talking too softly for Thor to hear. They both stopped and turned at Thor stepped inside. Heimdall gave Thor a disbelieving look when he spotted the lunchbox in his hand.

“ _Seriously?_ ”

Thor shrugged, holding the box out to him. “He had the money, at least.”

Heimdall sighed, scratching his goatee with one hand as he took the lunchbox with the other. Thor watched as he started counting out the money, organizing the bills in stacks on his father's desk.

He leaned against a filing cabinet and looked over to his father, exhaling in a huff. “Got anything else for me to do?”

Odin hummed, rubbing a hand over his good as he thought. “No, I think that's all I'll need you for today. You talk to mom?”

“Yeah,” he answered, feeling uneasy at the thought of telling his father about Loki.

“So, are you coming over for dinner tonight?”

“Uh.” Thor shifted his weight, reaching up to scratch his neck. “Ah, I don't think I'm gonna make it tonight.”

His father looked at him as though he could see right through him, blue eye narrowing at Thor slightly. He let out a heavy sigh a moment later, looking down at some papers in front of him. “Alright, don't party too hard though, I expect you at work on time.”

Thor relaxed. “Of course.” He looked over at Heimdall who was just finishing counting up the money. “Everything there?”

“Looks like it. The lunchbox is still weird though.”

Thor chuckled. “At least you didn't have to ride through town with the thing.”

-

Thor sighed as he felt the bed dip behind him, the small tremors running through Loki's skinny limbs as he pressed himself to Thor's back. “ _Loki_ ,” Thor said with an exasperated sigh.

“I'm cold,” he said in a tiny whisper, his breath a hot puff of air on Thor's skin. He squirmed a little closer, and Thor could feel the t-shirt and sweatpants he'd lent to Loki sliding against him.

This goddamn kid.

Thor exhaled slowly through his nose and turned over, letting Loki curl against his chest. He draped an arm over Loki's waist, the other arm wiggling under his head and resting his chin on the top of it. Thor tangled his fingers into Loki's inky hair, still a bit damp from the shower he'd taken before they went to bed, as he rubbed the base of his skull.

Loki let out a small grateful moan that sounded close to a purr, unfolding his legs to press himself tighter against Thor, his arm snaking around Thor's waist.

He was staying on the couch when he wasn't all fucked up on painkillers, Thor decided, and really hating how much he liked having someone curled up beside him. He was a teenager.

Thor sighed as Loki nuzzled his face into Thor's bare chest. He needed to remember to put a goddamn shirt on when he went to bed tomorrow.

“Your mom is nice,” Loki said softly. Thor felt his lips brushing against him, the sensation making his skin tingle.

“She is,” Thor replied, voice tight, acutely aware of every part of him that was touching Loki. “So, she took good care of you?”

Loki nodded a little, the tip of his nose rubbing against Thor's pec. “She made me pudding.” Thor cleared his throat and shifted his hips away from Loki a bit.

“I'm glad you like her, because you're probably gonna be hanging out with her while I'm at work tomorrow.”

Loki furrowed his brows and looked up at Thor. “What's your job?”

“Construction.”

“You ride there on your motorcycle?”

“Nah, I got a truck in the garage.”

“Oh,” Loki said, tucking his head back against Thor's chest.

“How are you feeling? How's your chest? Breathing okay?” Thor asked in quick succession, pushing Loki's hair back behind his ear to distract himself from how his cock was stirring at the close contact.

Loki shrugged a shoulder, his eyes shut and looking completely at home tucked against Thor. “Tired.”

“Oh,” Thor said, his mind going blank. Loki's chest was expanding slowly and steadily, his mouth curled just slightly into a smile in his sleep. Thor reached up before he could think better of it and lightly traced the tip of his thumb along the edge of Loki's bottom lip, skimming over a scratch. He swallowed hard and tore his hand away, wanting to slap some sense into himself.

“He's seventeen he's seventeen he's seventeen,” he muttered to himself, rolling carefully on to his back and pushing the blanket off, his skin feeling hot and too tight. He shut his eyes tight, trying to ignore how his cock continued to show it's interest in the whole situation.

“ _Fuck_.”


	3. Chapter 3

Loki watched Thor's face, slack with sleep and lit softly by the early morning light. There was a lock of blond hair flung across his scruffy cheek and slightly dry looking lips. Loki curled his hands under his chin to keep from reaching out and brushing it back.

His bruises had mostly faded away, the cuts and scrapes almost completely healed. His chest was still sore, but not enough for Thor to let him keep taking painkillers. So now he was stuck taking ibuprofen of it got annoying. He had also said Loki was gonna be sleeping on the couch when he started feeling better, but he hadn't kicked Loki out of his bed yet.

Loki knew he was in a gang of some sort, since he made _way_ too much money to just be a construction worker. _That_ and the big insignia on the back of his jacket gave him away. Not that he minded though, since Thor had taken better care of him than his mother or anyone else ever had in his life. He liked Frigga too. They pushed the hair back from his face in the exact same way.

Loki licked his lips as his gaze flitted down from Thor's face to his chest, eying the shadows of dusky pink nipples that were unfortunately covered by a white v-neck, and then a little lower to where Thor's cock was hidden by the comforter and a pair of dark red boxers. Loki had made sure he burnt the image of them into his mind the night before when he pretended to be asleep while Thor changed, raptly watching the muscles of his back twitch and flex under his tattooed skin as he got undressed - he _needed_ to figure out what that mess of symbols meant - silently mapping out all the veins that ran along the dips and curves on his thick limbs.

He spent a few minutes fantasizing about diving under the covers and waking Thor up with a blow job, his own cock growing hard in a pair of borrowed boxers. The only thing stopping him from actually _doing it_ was the knowledge that he would definitely be kicked out of Thor's bed if he did.

When the pressure became too much, he slipped out of bed and into the bathroom, tugging the boxers down his hips as he stood at the sink. He bit back a moan as he wrapped his hand around his cock, bringing vivid images to his mind of Thor standing behind him, his hands grabbing Loki's hips roughly. He called back on all the times he'd had Thor pressed against his back when they were in bed together, imaging how it might feel when it was tensed from fucking him, all sweaty and hot and hard with muscle. Loki gripped the edge of the sink with his other hand, his mouth hanging open in a silent wail as the hand on his cock moved faster. He envisioned how a kiss from Thor might be like, thinking it would probably be overwhelming, hard and possessive and intense, his hands holding Loki still as he took what he wanted.

Loki came into the basin of the sink with a sharp gasp, feeling dizzy as his body came down from it. He rinsed the spunk from his hand and the sink before stumbling back out, sliding under the covers and snuggling up against Thor once again, his body shivering from everything but the cold now. Thor let out a soft hum, shifting on to his side and slinging his arm over Loki, the heat radiating off his skin making Loki shudder. Loki bit down on his lip as adrenaline rushed through him, making his heart flutter and stomach flip with giddiness. He nudged his head under Thor's chin, pressing his nose to Thor's throat and getting a whiff of the cologne still clinging on to his skin.

 _God,_ he just... he just wanted Thor _so bad_. He _ached_ for Thor, as cliché as it sounded. He wanted Thor to want him back even more. He was still a bit stung from Thor's refusal his first night here, his throat would even get a bit tight if he thought of the look on Thor's face for a little too long.

But it was also a bit funny, too. Like Thor was somehow _surprised_ that Loki expected he'd have to give him something in return for his kindness. No one had _ever_ did something for Loki and expect nothing back from him. No one, except for Thor, obviously.

It was becoming really annoying, to be perfectly honest. The first guy he meets and actually _wants_ to sleep with has to have a fucking hangup about it or something.

Loki huffed. Slowly he pulled his head back, until he was able to look at Thor's face again, licking at his own lips as he eyed Thor's. Glancing up at his eyes once more to make sure Thor was still completely asleep, he leaned forward, closing the bit of space between them and pressed his tightly shut mouth to Thor's. Loki groaned softly because he just couldn't hold it back, his eyes closing as he simply kept his lips pressed to Thor's. He let out a shaky sigh when he finally pulled back, dropping back down and wiggling back into position.

Dammit.

\---

“How you feeling?” Thor asked as they ate breakfast at Thor's little, dinged up wooden table. Sun flooded in through the open windows beside them, a gentle breeze blowing into the room. A few birds were even chirping somewhere.

Loki looked away from the scratch he'd been digging into with his fingernail while he ate and cocked an eyebrow at Thor. “Fine,” he answered, taking another bite of his eggs.

Thor gave him a lopsided smile that made the skin on Loki's arms and nape of his neck tingle. “Feel up for a ride then?”

Loki sat up a little straighter in his seat. “On your motorcycle?”

Thor nodded.

Loki's eyebrows rose up high on his forehead. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Thor chuckled, “I figured since I have nothing to do today and you're feeling good why waste a nice day just sitting on our asses watching tv? _Again._ So?”

“Yeah!” Loki said, sounding a touch more enthusiastic than he intended. He relished in the grin Thor aimed at him though, feeling his cheeks heat when Thor reached over and roughed up hiss hair, then gently combing his fingers through it before pulling back.

“We'll get ready and go after breakfast then,” Thor said as he looked back down at his plate.

Loki started to practically shovel his eggs into his mouth, his leg bouncing under the table in excitement.

\---

Loki stood by the bike, scraping the worn-down toe of his sneaker over the pavement with his hands shoved in to the pocket of the hoodie Thor lent him, as Thor trudged through his garage for something. Thor was crouched down on the gas and oil stained concrete beside his pickup, digging through yet another disintegrating cardboard box.

“ _Ha!_ ” Thor hopped up from the ground, holding up a shiny black helmet victoriously in the air. “I knew I had this thing somewhere!”

Loki whined petulantly as Thor waltzed out of the garage, leaving the door wide open. “You're not gonna really make me wear that thing are you?”

“Yep,” Thor said as shoved it on to Loki's head unceremoniously. He knocked on the top of it a few times as Loki glared at him through the tinted visor. “You don't want to take a chance on cracking that pretty head of yours, do you?”

Loki's stomach did a flip and Thor cleared his throat, quickly turning away from him and towards the bike.

“Why aren't _you_ wearing one, then?” he asked as he adjusted the helmet as much as he could, voice muffled.

“Are you kidding? I look like a total idiot in that thing,” Thor scoffed as he hopped on to the bike and started it with a rumble. Loki's indignant huff got lost in the noise.

Thor looked back at him as he slipped on a pair of reflective sunglasses and laughed. He gave the raised seat behind him a pat, yelling over the exhaust, “come on!”

Loki grumbled to himself and climbed on, wrapping his arms tightly around Thor's waist, feeling slightly unwieldy in Thor's borrowed clothes and the helmet.

“Good?” Thor shouted over his shoulder.

Loki gave a short nod of his head, squeezing Thor just a bit more tightly. Thor backed them out of the driveway with practiced ease, speeding off as soon as they were on the road.

Well, this is much better than the first time, Loki thought, the smile on his face squashed slightly by the stupid helmet. They passed through one neighborhood after the other, with little kids playing out in their front yards and on the cracked sidewalks, a few people watching as they passed. Thor turned on to the highway eventually, speeding up and forcing Loki to cling even tighter to him. He could feel Thor's laugh, his chest expanding in short bursts – and then out of nowhere they were going goddamn sideways. Thor whipped around a car and pulled between the two lanes, going even faster over the dotted line. A few cars blared their horns at them, and Loki would've probably been leaving marks on Thor chest if he hadn't worn his jacket with how hard he was digging his nails into it.

“ _Fuck fuck fuck_ ,” Loki yelled into his helmet, clamping his eyes shut as they started to come up behind a semi-truck. He felt the bastard laughing again as he turned back into the lane, slowing down a bit. One of his hands came to pat Loki's thigh, lingering there for just a second.

 _Jesus Christ._ The visor began to fog a little from Loki's heavy breathing, shaking faintly as his heart fluttered against his ribs. He took a deep breath as Thor turned off to one of the exits, taking them down a single lane road surrounded by recently plowed fields and farms that sat far off the road. Loki relaxed more and more the longer they rode, his arms going a little more slack around Thor's waist and the tension easing from his thighs.

They came up to a beaten up looking gas station and Thor pulled in, puttering up to one of the empty stations before coming to a stop and shutting the whole thing off. Loki jumped off as Thor put down the kick stand, yanking the helmet off his head and taking a big breath of slightly less than fresh air.

Thor smirked at him as he got off the bike, pushing his sunglasses up on his head. He pulled his wallet out from inside his coat, pulling out a card to pay for gas. “Having fun?”

“Yeah, except for the whole part where I thought you were gonna kill us, it's been super fun.”

Thor rolled his eyes as he swiped his card and punched a few numbers on the keypad. “I wasn't going to kill us.”

Loki leaned against the painted red cement pillar just beside the station, arms wrapped around the helmet. “Really? Because that looked like one of those things you do to end up as a smear on the road. I may have skipped most of my health classes but I am pretty sure I'm right about that.”

Thor just smiled at him, shoving his wallet back in to his jacket and opening the motorcycle's gas cap. “C'mon, it had to have been at least a _little_ fun.”

Loki huffed, fingers twitching while Thor grabbed the gas pump, turning his back towards him, and began filling the tank. “It was more _thrilling_ than _fun_.”

“Thrilling is good,” Thor said brightly, shooting another smile at Loki over his shoulder.

Loki just smiled back, shrugging his shoulders.

“You wanna ride for a while longer or head back home?” Thor asked a minute or so later, as he pulled the pump from the tank and shoved it back into it's proper place.

Loki blinked, Thor's words setting off another nervous flip in his stomach. “I can go for a while longer, I think. Do I have to wear this, though?” he asked, holding up the helmet as he pushed off the pillar.

“Yes you do,” Thor said, climbing on to the bike and kicking the kickstand back. “Mostly because it gave you the _worst_ helmet hair. Seriously it is _so_ bad.”

Loki glared at him, shoving his head back into the helmet before he had a chance to blush and climbing on behind Thor a bit less gently than he did before.

Thor chuckled, patting Loki's knee. “I'm just kidding.”

Loki flipped up the visor. “You're sunglasses make you look douchey.” He flipped it back down, the plastic snapping back into place. He regretted the words instantly, his stomach dropping to his feet. _Why_ would he do that? Thor had no reason to keep him around – he had no reason to keep him around in the _first_ place – Loki couldn't start fucking talking back _now_.

But then Thor cackled, bending forward in his seat as someone in a grimy white compact gave them a dirty look.

“ _Okay_ , you're touchy about your hair, got it,” Thor said as his laughter trailed off, finally starting up the motorcycle again.

“I'm not touchy,” Loki grumbled, hugging Thor's waist again, tightly, but breathing a little easier.


	4. Chapter 4

“You _could_ give me a hand,” Thor called out to Loki as he fiddled with his lawnmower, trying to get the goddamned thing to start. Loki sat on the steps to the front door of his house, nose buried in a ratty paperback Thor's mother had given to Loki, along with a pile of others that were now residing in clusters in various places on Thor's shelves.

Thor could see the hint of a smirk hidden behind said book as Loki answered with a quiet “I'm good.”

Thor scoffed and rolled his eyes, giving the cord a few good pulls before the damn lawnmower finally rumbled to life. He sighed as he stood, pulling his sunglasses off the top of his head to slip them over his eyes and began taming his overgrown lawn. Everyone seemed to have the same idea, the entire neighborhood filled with the smell of fresh cut grass and the screeching cries of kids playing on the first real hot, sunny day of summer. Thor hadn't noticed the out of place van parked a few houses down until he'd stopped briefly to wipe the sweat from his face, it's nondescript navy paint glaring in the sunshine while deep tinted windows hid anyone who might be inside. Thor took a breath, looking over his shoulder back at Loki, green eyes darting back to the book in his hands as soon as he did. Giving the van another quick glance - _the fucking license plate was mostly hidden by his neighbor's little silver hybrid_ \- he went back to mowing the lawn, attempting to look like he hadn't noticed it at all.

It was gone by the next time he looked. “ _Fuck_ ,” he grumbled, wiping the sweat dripping off his forehead with the back of his hand.

“What?” Loki asked, thin, pale neck stretched so he could see Thor where he stood by the corner of his house.

“Nothing,” Thor answered quickly, adding, “it's just really hot out.”

“Do you need a drink?”

Thor opened his mouth to answer but Loki had already dropped his book and sprinted inside. Thor couldn't help but laugh at little at how Loki would in turns be the typical sullen teenager, seeming annoyed by anything and constantly snapping back at Thor, or he'd be bending over backwards to do things for him and getting excited about things with an almost childlike glee. Thor went along with it all pretty easily, but _damn_ , was he glad to not be a teenager anymore. He could hear Loki's footsteps thumping as he ran back outside, though he slowed down to a walk as he came through the door, his chest heaving just a little as he crossed through the fresh cut grass to bring a glass of water to Thor.

“Thanks,” he said as he took the glass from Loki. Loki just gave a small nod of his head. Thor drank the whole thing in a few gulps – realizing that he really _was_ thirsty – before he handed it back.

“Do you want more?” Loki asked, eyes darting down to Thor's chest and arms.

Thor found himself acutely aware of how the thin white cotton tank he wore was clinging to his skin from sweat.

Thor shook his head, lips pulled into a tight line, trying to ignore the added rush of heat washing under his skin from Loki's gaze. “I'm good, but thanks. You know, it's probably not going to take me too long to finish the rest of the lawn, why don't you go figure out what you're going to want for lunch?”

“Alright,” Loki said, eyes raking over Thor once more before turning away. Thor watched as he scooped up his book and walked inside, the door shutting with a thunk and a click.

Thor sighed and wiped his face again. Starting the mower again, he began mowing down the narrow path to his backyard, muttering a string of curses that were drowned out by the rumble.

\---

Thor's parent's lived in a small two-story house along the outskirts of town, just off a cracked one lane road where they sat between a pair of cornfields. Thor slowed and made the smooth turn into the long gravel driveway, puttering to a stop beside his father's gold painted trike. Loki hopped off first, yanking  off his helmet and fluffing up his hair with one hand.

“You look fine,” Thor said as he stood from his bike, since apparently his attempt at a joke had made Loki more than a little self conscious. Loki narrowed his eyes at him slightly, scrubbing his hair a little more roughly before letting it drop to his side. Thor smiled softly and reached up to rake a hand through Loki's hair, bringing a small smile to Loki's lips as well.

Thor quickly dropped his hand and looked away when the screen door screeched open, Frigga's head poking out of the house to grin at the both of them.

“Darlings!” she called as she stepped out to meet them, wrapping them both up in a hug. “You're just in time, dinner is gonna be done in a few minutes.” She gave Thor a quick peck on the cheek before turning her attention to Loki, taking him by the arm and taking the helmet from him.

“How have you been liking those books I gave you?” she asked as she lead him towards the  house. Loki's eyes lit up and he began rattling off the titles of the ones he'd already finished, his mother barely able to get a word in as he veered off into tangents about various plot-lines and characters.

Thor smiled and laughed to himself, following a couple feet behind. He watched as Frigga walked arm and arm with Loki towards the kitchen, turning down the short hall that lead to his dad's home office, knowing he'd be in there. He found him squinting his one eye at the flat screen monitor Thor had insisted on getting him the year before.

“Hey.”

Odin grumbled a greeting as he turned away from the monitor, clicking away from whatever window he'd been on to give his full attention to Thor. “What was the _'concern'_ you were telling me about earlier? You've had me worried sick all damn day.”

Thor sunk into one of the worn leather chairs in front of Odin's desk. “Sorry about being so vague earlier, I had Loki around and you know...”

His father's face went a bit hard at the mention of Loki’s name. He hadn't liked it when he found out that Thor had been letting him stay at his place and, more importantly, not telling him about it. He didn't trust Loki – _that_ was made clear. _We have enemies, Thor. You can't just let anyone have that much access to you – even if he's “just a kid.”_

“I think someone was scoping out my place today.”

Odin furrowed his eyebrows, resting his chin in a weathered hand. “What makes you think that?”

“I know all my neighbor's cars, this one was – I know I’ve never seen it on my street before.”

“What'd look like?”

“Dark blue van, tinted windows. I barely even noticed it sitting there.”

His father nodded, obviously thinking it over. “Got a license number?”

“I saw a 7 and a 9, but the rest of it was blocked. You think Heimdall would be able get something out of that?”

“Probably not, but he's surprised me before,” Odin sighed, looking grim.

“You think we should tell anybody else?”

Odin looked back at him and shook his head. “Not until we know if there is an issue. Not even your mother, you know how she gets.”

“ _Boys! Dinner's ready!”_

Odin sighed as they both stood, running a tanned hand through his snowy hair. “I'll call Heimdall after dinner, so if he can find anything he'll be able to tells us on in the morning.”

“Sounds good,” Thor said, opening the door for Odin. “What did mom make for dinner?” he asked, sniffing the air.

“Chicken with mashed potatoes and all that.”

They filed out into the living room and walked straight to the dining room at the other side, finding his mother and Loki finishing up setting the table.

“Looks amazing as always,” Odin said, leaning forward to plant a kiss on Frigga's cheek before sitting down at the head of the long, oval table.

“ _Agreed_.” Thor sunk down into his usual seat, rubbing his hands along the tops of his thighs. Loki sat in the seat beside him, so he was sandwiched between him and Frigga, looking nervous and oddly meek.

“Jacket _off_ ,” Frigga said to Thor as she sat in the seat at the other end of the table, voice light but with a hint of sternness to it.

“ _Mooom_ ,” Thor whined, throwing his head back dramatically and pulling a small laugh from Loki.

Frigga smiled softly. “ _Now_ , sweetheart.”

Thor huffed once more for good measure before getting up, tugging off the leather jacket and tossing it on to the couch in the living room. He tugged the sleeves of his t-shirt back in place as he walked back into the dining room, flopping back in to the hard, wooden seat.

“Thank you,” his mother said brightly, already dishing out the sides.

The room went silent after that, the clatter and clank of cutlery filling the space as they loaded their plates. Thor glanced at his father, his mouth set in a tight line and his hard gaze focused steadily on his plate. He looked over to his mother next, whose expression was much lighter. He returned her smile when their eyes met a second or so later. Loki was looking down at his plate too, shoulders hunched and head turned down.

Thor moved his hand under the table with barely a thought and reached over to give a comforting squeeze one of Loki's knees, pulling it back almost as soon as Loki's wide-eyed gaze turned to him.

Thor cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, speaking to Frigga and Loki. “So, you guys got anything planned for tomorrow?”

Frigga hummed, poking her her small mound of mashed potatoes with her fork. “We'll just be running errands, I think.” Looking down at her hand, she added, “I may drag you to the nail salon with me though, I desperately need mine filled in.”

Loki shrugged his shoulder. “That's okay. They have good magazines.”

Thor smiled, resisting the urge to grab Loki's knee again. He looked back to his father again, his expression still tense and annoyed, though he was at least looking up from his plate now. Thor held back a sigh as another uneasy silence fell on the table.

\---

“Your dad _really_ doesn't like me,” Loki blurted out as soon as Thor had closed the front door behind them. The air was slightly cooler than it had been a few hours before, though it was just as humid, the sky clear of clouds to allow an uninterrupted view of the stars and sliver of a moon. Loki clutched the helmet to his chest as they walked side-by-side across the yard towards the driveway, scraping at a small nick in it's black paint with a fingernail.

Thor exhaled audibly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. “It's _not_ -”

“I _know_ when people don't like me,” Loki snapped, his sharp jaw clenching.

“He'll warm up eventually. Just try not to let it get to you too much, alright? He's just a crabby old guy you have to deal with sometimes.”

The tension in Loki's shoulders relaxed a little and Thor took that as a good sign, grinning and roughing up Loki's hair. Loki made an odd squawking sound, darting out of Thor's reach and running the rest of the way to Thor's bike. Thor ran after him, catching him around the waist and pulling him off the ground, they both of them laughing loud enough that his parents could probably hear it from inside the house.

Thor sighed happily as he set Loki back on the ground, scrubbing his hand through Loki's hair once more before climbing on to his motorcycle and starting it up.

Loki's face twisted into a grimace as he looked at the helmet in his hand. “Do I _always_ have to wear this?” he called out over the roar of the exhaust.

“Yes, you do,” Thor called back over his shoulder, reaching behind himself to pat the seat behind him. “Now put it on and get on. I'll get you some ice cream as a reward for dealing with my dad.”

Loki rolled his eyes and scoffed. “I'm not _five.”_

Thor raised an eyebrow. “You want ice cream or not?”

Loki huffed and shoved the helmet on to his head, quickly settling behind Thor.

Thor chuckled, to himself mostly, and patted Loki's knee, carefully turning around in the driveway and peeling out onto the dark road.


	5. Chapter 5

Loki stared off at a row of framed certifications that hung along the wall, his mind wandering as a tiny, ornery woman carefully painted his freshly groomed nails a with a black-green polish. She had spotted his hands as he sat beside Frigga, chatting idly with her nail technician, and promptly began chastising him for his overgrown cuticles like he did it to personally offend her. He was pretty sure she was just trying to wring twenty bucks out of him since she almost instantly began insisting that she _needed_ to give him a manicure _now_. He had looked to Frigga for help and was met with a sly smile. Then she had shrugged her shoulder and asked, “well? Do you want one?”

Loki answered with a mumbled “I don't know.”

He was being pulled to one of the stations moments later, his forearms resting on the padded edge of the table and being told to pick out a nail polish he liked.

Thor always did his best to not wake up Loki as he got out of bed to get ready for work, carefully rolling Loki to the other side of the bed, moving slow and quiet around the house. It only worked about half the time but it made Loki's stomach flutter anyways and he definitely _didn't_ want Thor to stop doing it, so he always stayed limp and kept his eyes closed to at least make Thor think that it worked.

This morning had only been very slightly different, and Loki still couldn't keep his mind off it. A lingering touch on his waist after Thor had tugged his t-shirt back in place and a tiny – _longing,_ he desperately hoped – sigh before he pulled himself out of bed and carefully walked to the bathroom. Loki had stared at the stripe of light leaking out from the bottom of the door, Thor's touch still burning him. He rolled back on to his other side as the shower shut off, pressing his face into the pillow so Thor couldn't tell that he was awake, listening to him move through the house until he heard the front door open and shut, then a dull growl of his huge pickup a minute or so later. The headlights flashed against the window and Loki had let out the breath he felt like he'd been holding for the better part of an hour, flopping on to his belly on Thor's side of the bed. He buried his face into his pillow and breathed in again and again, his hips moving in tiny circles that quickly became bigger, until he was desperately humping the mattress and whining into the soft, red sheets. He pulled himself away before he could come, not wanting to deal with trying to wash them before Thor got home or with the repercussions of leaving Thor's bed all streaked with come.

The idea of it was thrilling though. It quickly pushed him over the edge when he finally shoved a hand into his boxers and stroked his aching cock, spilling all over his belly with a cry.

“ _Much_ better,” the nail tech said, sounding genuinely relieved.

Loki looked down at his nails, flexing his fingers so the fresh paint glinted in the florescent lights, a smile tentatively curling his lips.

“That color is nice,” Frigga said when they were back in her behemoth of an SUV and driving out of the strip mall the nail salon was set in.

Loki looked up from where he'd been admiring his nails in the sunlight, sinking down into the seat without thinking. “My nails are really... _shiny_.”

Frigga let out a small laugh that was interrupted by the muffled ring of her phone. “Would you get that out of my bag for me, sweetheart?”

Loki pulled the brown leather bag on to his lap, finding it buried under a pack of tissues and a assortment of lip balms, and handed to her before setting the bag back between their seats.

“Hi honey. Everything okay?” Loki could hear Odin's voice on the other end, deep and garbled enough that he couldn't make out the words.

Frigga's eyes darted over to him, and said, “yeah, I think I can make a quick stop. See you soon, bye.”

She hung up and dropped her phone back into her bag while Loki watched.  
“I just got to pick something up for Odin and bring it to him, shouldn't take too long.”

Loki nodded, sinking back into the passenger seat and gazing at his polished nails again.

They pulled in to the parking lot of one of a almost windowless, rusty-brown building in one of the more rundown parts of town, coming to a stop about twenty feet in front of man standing by a row of dying shrubs.

“What's this place?” Loki asked as he looked for a sign of some sort, squinting his eyes.

“I think it used to be a carpet store,” Frigga answered. She rolled down her window as the man approached the car.

He looked about thirty, Loki guessed, wearing a baggy pair of jeans and a grey zip front sweatshirt, dark, short hair, cut into a plain looking style. Very average.

He smiled slightly and nodded towards Frigga. “Good morning, ma’am.”

“Good morning.” Frigga's voice was still pleasant and soft, but her words were slightly clipped, and Loki couldn't help but look at her in confusion.

He nodded towards Loki then. Loki tensed up a bit, hands curling into loose fists in his lap. “Got a, uh, friend with you.”

“I do,” Frigga answered with that same pleasant but tense tone, “I don't have much time, _so.._.”

The man reacted instantly, mumbling a little as he pulled an envelop from his pocket and handed it over.

Frigga snatched it from him, opening and running her fingers over the the edges of the stack of bills. “I'm sure you have the _full_ payment this time?” She asked without looking towards the man.

The man flinched, blinking rapidly and blurting out, “yes ma'am.”

“And interest?”

He swallowed. “Yes ma'am.”

“Good. I'll tell Odin you said hello,” Frigga said, giving him an insincere smile and rolling the window back up. She started up the SUV again, pulling away as she stuffed the envelop into her purse, leaving the man behind in a cloud of dust.

Loki couldn't help but gape at her.

She glanced over at him and sighed, “I'm sorry, I just hate that little prick.”

Loki raised an eyebrow at her. “What'd he do to piss _you_ off?”

She was silent for a minute, tapping her nails on the steering wheel and turning down a different quiet street. “Oh, Thor is _not_ going to like that I'm telling you any of this, but. That guy gambled away all his money a few years ago – even his kid's tuition savings – put himself _deep_ in the hole. And since no bank was going to give him any help, he came to Odin.

I knew his wife. The poor girl had no idea what the jackass was doing until it was too late and they were wrung dry. She managed to leave him pretty soon after that, but I still hate the bastard.”

Loki looked out the windshield, his eyes unfocused on the road before them. “So Thor is _definitely_ in a biker gang? All of you are?”

Frigga laughed and reached over to push Loki's hair from his face. “I told Thor you'd be able to figure it out. And I'm not _technically_ a member.”

“Why didn't Thor want me to know?”

“He didn't want you to know at first because he didn't know how long you'd be staying, now I think he's been worried about you getting mixed up in his troubles. He's gotten a bit protective of you.”

Loki's face went hot and he sucked in a breath before he could control himself. He forced himself to relax and tried to look sullen. “I've got my own troubles I've already mixed myself in.”

Frigga laughed and raked her fingers through his hair once again. “Well, he didn't want to get you into any _more_ of it.”

After a short, quiet drive Frigga pulled up to another building – a squat, red brick building with old looking windows and black shingles glinting in the sun – and drove through an open wrought-iron gate and parked at the back of the building. He spotted Odin's motorcycle parked farther down in the lot and a little red compact parked close to the entrance.

“This is the clubhouse,” Frigga said, seeming to read the question on Loki's face as he squinted out the window. “It's usually a bit dead in the daytime.”

Loki hopped out the SUV and followed Frigga inside, going through a short, dark hallway before coming into a big room that looked like some sort of lounge. There was a bar on one side, stocked with liquor in all the shades of brown you could imagine, and a flag on the opposite side that matched the emblem on the back of Thor's jacket: a helmet with wings stretching out from either side and horns curving sharply upward, the word Asgardia written below it in a heavy but ornate script. Black leather couches that sagged in the middle lined the walls and scuffed up wooden tables and chairs filled the rest of the room.

Behind the bar sat  a busty young woman with long, dark brown hair, shellacking full lips with a cherry red lipstick in the reflection from the bar top. She nearly smeared it across her cheek as they came in and startled her.

“Hello Darcy.”

“Hey Mrs Borrson!” She said brightly, tilting her head at Loki. “...and _Not_ Mrs Borson.”

Frigga laughed and gently dragged Loki to the bar. “This is Loki, he's a friend of Thor's.”

Capping her lipstick and tossing it into a clear plastic cosmetics bag, she leaned on to the bar top “ _Ah._ Well nice to meet ya, Loki.”

Loki said “hey” back and sat at one of the stools in front of the bar.

“Odin's in his office?” Frigga asked Darcy.

“Yup,” Darcy answered with a pop of her lips.

“Good, I'll be right back then,” she said, patting Loki's arm as she turned and walked away. Loki looked over his shoulder and watched Frigga head down another hallway, turning at a corner to disappear entirely.

“You want something to drink?”

Loki turned back and looked at the shelves full of liquor, tapping his fingers on the smooth wood. Darcy followed his gazed and snickered, looking back at him.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-one.”

She snorted. “How about a soda?”

Loki sagged a little. “That's fine.”

She squatted down and Loki could hear the sound of a little fridge door opening and shutting before she shot back up and set a can of Coke in front of him. Leaning on her forearms she said, “you need to stick in the teens if you're gonna lie about your age.”

“ _Most_ guys believed me,” Loki grumbled. He opened the can carefully, not wanting to chip his nail polish so soon.

“ _Most_ guys would fuck a tree if the hole was wet enough... Did Thor believe you?”

“No,” Loki answered, and sounded _really_ whiny. Darcy laughed.

Loki looked down at his soda, running his fingertip through the condensation already collecting on the can. Darcy tilted her head at him again, her eyes darting from his face to his hands.

“You've got nice cheekbones.”

“Thanks,” Loki said with a self-conscious shrug of his shoulders.

“Would you be, like, totally opposed to me putting makeup on you?”

Loki looked back up at her. “...No?”

Darcy grinned.

\---

“Stop blinking! You're gonna make me get mascara all over your face.”

“I can't help it! It feels weird,” Loki giggled. Darcy held his jaw with one hand, doing her best to keep him still while the other tried to sweep the applicator over his lashes. They both stopped when they heard the clomping of booted feet coming into the lounge. Thor was the first in the room, followed by a few other men, all dressed in sweat stained t-shirts and dirty blue jeans.

“What the hell are _you_ doing here?” Thor looked distraught, his attention almost instantly turning to Darcy. “And what the hell are _you_ doing to his face!?”

“I'm putting freaking makeup on him. Why have _you_ been hiding him!? He's fun!”

“You're mom brought me,” Loki interjected meekly. He hadn't considered that Thor might get angry about him finding out about his little _not very well kept_ secret.

Thor groaned, walking towards the hall Frigga had gone down and shouting “ _mother!_ ”

The men that had followed Thor inside – another blond with short hair and a goatee, a portly redhead with a long beard and a longer ponytail, and an Asian man with his hair wrapped neatly in a bun, had watched the short interaction in silent confusion. All three pairs of eyes fell on Darcy and him.

Darcy scoffed and gave them a dismissive wave as she turning her attention back to Loki. “Go bug Thor about it.” The three looked back at each other for a moment before doing just that.

Loki wrung his hands in his lap, doing his best to not chew on his lip, Darcy had spent a good ten minutes slapping different shades of pink lipgloss on them to get the color just right, and keeping himself still so she could finish.

“ _Perfect!_ ” she said as she pulled away, sliding the applicator back into the tube and tossing it into her bag. “If only I had some hair stuff to push this all back,” she added as she reached over and pushed Loki's hair back roughly, making him wince.

Loki made a noise in his throat and swatted her hands away. He ran his own hand through his hair, slouching back into the couch.

“Oh yeah, I bet you wanna see yourself.” Darcy dug into her bag once more, pulling out  her mirrored compact and thrusting it into Loki's face. Loki took the mirror, holding it far enough so he could see his whole face. He blinked at his reflection, turning his head from side to side. His eyes were surrounded in black eye shadow and eyeliner, making his irises look paler and sharper in comparison. It was a bit... shocking. His lips were definitely the perfect shade of pink though.

“Well!?” Darcy asked as she bounced excitedly beside him. “It's kinda goth-chic, right? I don't know, I just kinda went with it.”

Loki blinked, turning his head again. “I think I like it.”

“Yay!”

“ _Well_ , look at you.”

The two turned as Frigga walked back into the lounge, smiling as she walked over to the couch Loki and Darcy sat in, smiling softly at him as she grasped his chin and tipped Loki's head back. “Oh to be young and able to pull off that sort of makeup again.”

Darcy grinned up at Frigga. “Take a seat Mrs B. and I will show it is _still_ possible.”

Frigga chuckled and shook her head at her. “Maybe another day, sweetie. I have to go to the store right now.”

“I'm holding you to that,” Darcy said as she grabbed the mirror from Loki and dropped into her bag.

Frigga chuckled and finally let go of Loki's chin. Then she looked back at him and said, “Thor wants you to go home with him, so you get to stay here for a while longer.”

“Oh,” was all Loki managed to say. Frigga didn't seem to notice his trepidation though, and roughed his hair up before turning and walking away.

Darcy leaned over and nudged Loki's side with her elbow, giving him a conspiratorial wink as she asked, “want me to show you where they keep the video games?”

\---

Loki gripped his knees tightly and kept his face turned away from Thor, his heart thumping dully in his head, the cracking radio filling the silence in the cab of the truck. They pulled to a stop at an intersection and he felt Thor's hand on the back of his neck, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“I know Darcy can be a bit exhausting to be around but I never thought she could leave someone shell-shocked.”

“I'm sorry.” The words spilled out of Loki instantly, whipping his head around to look at Thor.

Thor gave him a bewildered look. “For what?”

“I- I know you were trying to keep me from finding out you're in a gang but your dad called your mom and she had to get money from some guy and – she was _mean_ , Thor – and she had to tell me but I already kind of knew because of the jacket and stuff-”

“Hey, hey, _hey_ ,” Thor interrupted, chuckling softly and pulling his hand back to grab the steering wheel as they started moving again. “I'm not mad at you. I get what happened, it's okay.”

Loki let out a long breath, sinking into the passenger in relief.

“So, how long did it take you to figure out?”

Loki shrugged. “Like, a couple weeks. Probably would've been sooner if I hadn't been asleep constantly.”

“Damn,” Thor sighed. “Had an exciting day then?”

Loki curled his fingers on his thighs, his foot tapping on the floor of the truck. “Kinda.”

“Mom said you got badgered into getting a manicure when you guys were at the nail salon.”

Loki smirked. “Yeah.”

“So that and then Darcy got her hands on you – I hope it wasn't complete torture.”

“I liked it,” Loki said as he looked down at his nails.

Thor looked over at him, watching Loki for a moment before looking back at the road and nodding. “That's good.”

“Do you like it?” he asked, eyes darting to Thor.

Thor opened his mouth, a drawn out “ _uhh_ ” falling from his lips. He looked back and forth from the road to Loki a couple times, drumming his fingers on the wheel. “It – I think it's – _It's nice_. It suits you, I guess.”

Loki smiled, leaning his head against the window and biting his lip. “Thanks.”


	6. Chapter 6

“He looks young,” Steve said as he took another sip from his beer, his tone casual. Loki had just darted out from the bedroom to grab a slice of pizza and a soda, looking vaguely sulky with his hair hanging in his eyes and shoulders hunched in one of Thor's over-sized hoodies. He'd given Steve the barest greeting he could manage before slipping out of the living room to go back to whatever the hell he was doing on Thor's laptop.

“That's because he is,” he replied as smoothly as he could. 

Steve raised an eyebrow at him. 

Thor laughed, fighting back the guilty feeling that was making his stomach lurch. 

Steve looked back at the bedroom door. “What's his story?” he asked as he looked back to Thor.

“Foster kid. Bounced around from one shitty home to the next until ran off a few months ago. Doing tricks to get from point A to B - you know _that_ whole story. I found him getting beaten up to him in front of a bar a couple months ago.” Thor shrugged. “I've been letting him stay here since.”

Steve nodded, looking down thoughtfully at the floor.

“Got _Cop Steve_ out of your system now?” He gave Steve a cheeky grin.

Steve laughed, shaking his head. “Shut the hell up and pass me the pizza.”

Thor laughed too, pushing the box across the coffee table with his foot. They both sat back into the couch with a sigh, falling into a comfortable silence and watching Die Hard for approximately the millionth time. Thor chewed slowly, his stomach still rolling and making his pizza settle like lead. He took a deep swig of his beer to wash it down, a much more pleasant fuzzy feeling floating through him a few moments later. 

“So how's the right side of the law been treating you?” Thor asked a little while later, feeling warm and more relaxed as he cracked open a second beer.

Steve shrugged. “It's been quiet lately. Clint says hi, by the way... So, how's the wrong side?” Steve bounced back with a smirk. Thor laughed and shook his head.

“Aw come on, I'm not Cop Steve right now, _remember?_ ”

Thor huffed, still smiling in amusement as he took another sip of his beer. “There hasn't been too much going on, actually.”

Steve's expression changed just slightly. 

“What?”

“You just got a weird look on your face.”

Thor raised his eyebrows at Steve. “ _I've_ got a weird look on my face?”

Steve rolled his eyes.

Thor sighed, glancing towards the closed bedroom door, he said quietly, “I just saw this van the other day, that's all. It's been making me a little paranoid.” 

Steve looked thoughtful. “What'd it look like?”

“Just a plain old dark van. Didn't catch a glimpse of the license plate or anything.”

“Hm.”

“It's probably nothing,” Thor said, partly trying to convince himself. 

They sat in silence for a few minutes again, and then Thor spotted his sunglasses sitting on the table, another question niggling at him.

“Hey,” he started, looking over at Steve again. “You think my glasses make me look like a douchebag?”

Steve's face twisted in confusion. “What?” 

“My sunglasses,” he said, gesturing towards them.

“I like your sunglasses.”

“Loki thinks they make me look douchey.”

Steve let out a bark of laughter. “Your glasses are fine.”

\---

When Thor walked in to the bedroom after Steve had left Loki was already fast asleep, curled on his side. A puddle of condensation surrounded the bottom of his lukewarm can of soda sitting on the nightstand and the open laptop set Loki's pale face in an eerie, bluish glow. He pushed the lid closed with one finger and set it on to the floor beside the bed. After stripping down to his boxers and undershirt he climbed into bed behind Loki. He stared at Loki's back in the darkness. Thick, dark cotton billowed around him and obscured his narrow body. _Thank fuck._

He'd caught a glimpse of what was hidden beneath that sweatshirt and flannel pants  earlier that day. A slim, pale body no longer marred by the bruises he'd come here with or distressingly visible bones. A small trail of dark hair trailed down from a tiny dip of bellybutton and disappeared behind the towel slung around his narrow hips. His rosy nipples had really sent Thor's mind straight to the gutter though, vivid images flooding his mind of pinching them between his calloused fingers or latching on to them one at a time with his mouth, sucking on them hard and scraping his teeth lightly over the sensitive skin until he had Loki mewling.

Thor swallowed, trying to blink away the images again even as his cock throbbed and began to swell.

Luckily, his phone rung a moment later, forcing him to climb out of bed and follow the sound into the darkened living room, scooping it off the coffee table and answering it in one move. “What's wrong?”

His dad cleared his throat on the other end, though he still sounded tired and rough as he spoke. “Your mother spotted someone watching our house. A dark van with their lights off.”

Thor was already moving to his own windows, pushing the blinds out of his way with a couple fingers to peer out at the street, dead still and quiet at this time of night. “You thinking it's the same one I saw?”

“Yeah.”

“Did see she the license plate?”

“No. Too dark.”

Thor sighed. He moved all around the house, looking out the windows and checking that they were locked. “They're gone now?”

“Yeah,” Odin said wearily, “she'd went to get her pistol and gotten to the door just as they drove off. Everything thing good at your place?”

Thor went to the backdoor when he heard a rustling, the screen door squeaking loudly as he shouldered it open and startling the raccoon that had been digging through his knocked over garbage can. “Yeah,” he said as he ducked back inside the house, shutting the door firmly and locking the deadbolt. He heard his dad hum quietly.

“We're having a meeting first thing in the morning. I want everyone on the lookout now.”

Thor nodded. “I'll get the word out.”

“Good,” Odin sighed. Thor could practically hear his father pressing his fingertips into the temple beside his missing eye. “I'm going to call Heimdall.”

“Okay. Tell mom I love her.”

“Will do. Goodnight.”

“'Night.”

Thor hung up, bending forward and resting on his elbows on the kitchen counter, yawning as he started sending out texts. _Emergency meeting. Everyone at the clubhouse by 8am._

He jumped when he heard another yawn. Loki walked into the kitchen, bare feet slapping on the linoleum and soda can in hand. With eye's half open he walked past Thor, to the sink and poured his flat soda into. “Everything okay?” he asked, his words a little slurred from sleep.

“Yeah,” he said, sending out one final message before putting his phone to sleep. Thor lifted his arm as Loki tossed the emptied can into the garbage, wrapping it around Loki's shoulders. He fit himself against Thor's side as they walked back to the bedroom together. They broke apart and each made their way to their side of the bed. Thor set his phone on the nightstand and climbed back under the blanket as Loki slipped out of the hoodie and sweatpants. Loki scooted up beside him and Thor, somewhat reluctantly, lifted his arm, letting Loki curl against his side and pillow his head on Thor's shoulder. Loki let out a quiet, contented hum as he settled, his eyes closing immediately.

Thor studied his face as he fell back to sleep, swallowing back the urge to run his fingers through Loki's hair or... caress him or something.

He liked this too much. Way too much. He should've kicked Loki out of his bed ages ago, when he was just healing up and they hadn't settled completely in to this habit. He really should kick Loki out of his bed now, before anything could happen, but he could just imagine the rejected and deeply hurt look Loki would give him if he did. His stomach twisted. He couldn't do it.

He sighed, his head lolling on his pillow to stare at the closed blinds, thinking of the van and wondering who could be in it. Who might be watching them and more importantly why. Not knowing anything made him feel irritated and itchy. It felt like when he was seventeen and he hadn't been allowed to join the club just yet, his mother and father still steadfastly refusing to tell him anything detailed about what the club did. Thor was left to wonder when Odin would leave in a rush, hearing snippets of hushed conversations between him and Heimdall or another member of the club that would be cut off as soon as they noticed Thor was in earshot. He hated it at the time, it made him feel small and useless and angry.

He looked back to Loki, sleeping soundly. He hadn't asked Thor much about what the club did, not yet at least, and now he was the one who was going to have to hide things.

He grimaced at the ceiling. He felt old.

\---

“You're grumpy in the morning,”  Thor said brightly as they walked to his bike. 

Loki glared at everything, shoulders bunched and arms swinging limply at his sides, the dreaded helmet held in one of his fists. “I don't get why I just can't stay here and sleep. I don't think your dad is gonna even want me there anyways.”

Thor stopped, turning to Loki with a sigh. Putting his hands on his hips, he looked up and down his quiet little street. He decided to bring Loki along just before he finally fell asleep. Something about the thought of leaving Loki alone, when he truly had no idea if someone was going after the club, had made him uneasy. “We'll get breakfast and then afterwords I'll explain. And my dad will just have to deal with it.”

“How long is this meeting going to take?”

“About an hour, maybe?”

“I'll be timing you,” Loki let out in a grumpy huff, shoving the helmet on his head. 

Thor gave him a smile, reaching out and squeezing Loki's arm before climbing on to his bike, Loki hopping on right after. The ride to the clubhouse was quick, and about half the members where already inside, milling around in the lounge by the time they arrived. He spotted his father taking to Tyr and Heimdall towards the back of the room, their eyes meeting for a moment. He didn't miss the grim expression that passed over his face when he spotted Loki. Thor sighed. He looked over to Loki, who seemed to be getting nervous again, curling in on himself and subtly hiding behind Thor.

“These people are my friends, relax kid.”

Loki gave him a wary look and hugged his arms around his waist, his eyes darting around the room.

“Darcy showed you the rec room the other day, right?”

Loki gave a small nod of his head.

“Then go knock yourself out, I'll come and get you when we're done,” Thor said, giving Loki what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Loki gave a small smile in return – he took that as a success – and darted away, heading off to the staircase that lead to the second floor.

“So you're finally bringing your little secret friend around?”

Thor sighed again, turning back to be met by matching smirks from Sif and Fandral. “Yes, but do you have to say it like that?”

“How _should_ we we say it?” Sif asked, one dark eyebrow arched.

“I don't know – But I wasn't trying to keep him secret or anything like that.”  
Fandral snickered, leaning over to whisper into Sif's ear, “someone's defensive.”

Thor leveled a glare at his friend, resisting the urge to fidget as Sif and Fandral's amusement grew. Maybe he was being a bit defensive. He took a breath and schooled his features, narrowing his eyes at a spot of Fandral's cheek. “Hey man is that... an ingrown hair?”

“What.” Fandral's smile dropped and his eyes widened, touching the spot Thor had been looking at. He spun around to find the nearest reflective surface. Which happened to be the top of the bar.

Sif gave a snort of laughter as she looked back to Thor. “Nice deflection... And I actually think what you're doing is very sweet. A bit noble even.”

Thor rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

“I mean it!”

Over at the other side of the room, Odin cleared his throat. “Lets get this started, shall we?”

The filed into their meeting room, taking seats around a long table. Odin sat at the head, with Thor at one side and Heimdall at the other, the rest taking whatever seat they could. The prospects, three fresh-faced kids who were probably only a bit older than Loki, were forced to stand at the back of the room. 

Something about _that_ thought set him on edge. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the polished table, running the tip of a finger along his lip.

Odin cleared his throat again, commanding the attention of everyone in the room.

“I've called you all here this morning because I think we have an issue that needs all of our attention. Last week Thor saw someone watching his house and then, just last night, Frigga saw what I believe to be the same van watching ours.”

I want everyone on guard, we don't know how big of threat whoever is doing this is. Watch your streets carefully, and I'd advise everyone with families have safe spots set up for them in case things do get hairy.”

There were a few nods from the members, and Thor spotted Volstagg and Hogun both pulling out their phones. 

“What did the van look like?” Hogun asked, glancing away from his screen for a second.

“Dark blue, tinted windows, nothing really stood out about it,” Thor answered.

Hogun looked at him and nodded, typing something else into his phone before slipping it back in to his pocket. “I still have a few connections in the Vanir, I can give them a call and see if they've heard anything.”

Odin gave a slow nod of his head, his lone eye looking distant as he thought. 

“Could it be someone from Jotunheim?” Sif chimed in, “Someone still holding a grudge over their club being disbanded?”

Thor absentmindedly chewed on a thumbnail. He remembered it, and _disbanded_ was a more diplomatic word than he might've used. It had happened just after he'd been sworn in as a full member of the club. It was the first time he'd aimed his gun at something that wasn't a target. Odin had come up to him as Thor sat in the gravel beside his bike in a daze. The others were still inside the abandoned factory, chatting idly as they planted evidence and cleaned whatever needed cleaning. He had set his hand on Thor's shoulder, saying nothing for a couple of minutes before giving it a firm squeeze and walking away, leaving Thor to continue to stare off at the open expanse of grassy plains and clear night sky.

He'd met his father's eye for only a moment when he finally stood an eternity later, tearing his gaze away and climbing on to his bike to get away as fast as he could. His hands felt shaky and weak and he had to stop to vomit in a ditch, thinking: _This is what you wanted? You dreamed of this your whole life?_

He was still in a daze when he came back to the apartment he had lived at the time. Only then realizing that he was covered in spatters of blood when his girlfriend had started screaming at the sight of him.

“The ones left are still in prison,” Odin said gruffly. He scratched at his snowy beard and added softly, “though they might have someone on the outside working for them.”

Thor's attention wandered as more voices chimed in, his focus set on the dark stained table. He wondered how Loki was doing.

“You seemed distracted,” Odin said after the meeting had ended and the last of the members filed out of the room.

“Just tired,” he said, scratching the back of his neck and shrugging a shoulder. 

“Had trouble falling asleep after you called.”

Odin hummed thoughtfully, nodding. There was nothing but silence for a minute. Thor noticed his father's brow furrowing.

Thor let out an exhausted sigh, already having an idea of what was coming. “What?”

Odin finally looked at him, hard and focused. “I don't trust that kid.”

Thor scoffed and rolled his eyes, he couldn't help it.

“Thor.”

“He's just a kid, dad.”

“It doesn't seem odd to you that we have someone sniffing around a few weeks after you bring him home?”

“Not really, actually.”

Odin practically growled, turning from him sharply.

Thor sighed, sitting forward and resting his forearms on his thighs. “I've been very careful, he only knows the bare minimum about the club and what we do. And he doesn't seem particularly interested in it too be honest.”

Odin shook his head, rubbing the temple beside his missing eye. “He might not have to know things about us, he might just need your trust, Thor.”

Slapping his hands on the armrests of his chair, he pushed himself up to stand. “Well then, I guess he has it.”

It was only with years of experience that he didn't flinch at the glare Odin threw at him.

“Can I go now, sir?”

Odin grumbled under his breath, shooing Thor away with a rough gesture of his hand as he turned towards the windows.

Thor huffed, nostrils flaring, and turned to the door, stomping towards it. 

“ _Mom_ likes him.”

\---

He stopped in the doorway to rec room, an uneasy feeling coming over him as he saw two of the prospects sitting with Loki, watching him play some bright, flashy game.

“Seventy-six minutes,” Loki said without looking away from the tv.

Thor let out a snort of laughter when he remembered Loki saying he'd be timing him. “Yeah, yeah, you're good at keeping track of time. You wanna get breakfast or what?”

“One second.” Loki's face twisted into a strange grimace, thumbs pressing hard into the controller's buttons, the game becoming louder and louder until it cut hard to some fast paced, electronic sounding song. Loki grinned victoriously.

“Nice,” Roald, one of the prospects, said. A lanky kid with stick-straight, sandy brown hair that stuck out all over. Loki handed the controller to the other and popped up from the couch, walking towards Thor.

Unable to completely stifle his annoyance at their presence, Thor snapped, “don't you guys have something more important to do now?”

Loki stopped beside him in the doorway, eyes a little wide. Thor did his best to not pay attention. The prospects both stammered for a moment before Roald managed to spit out, “he got to play.”

He could feel Loki watching him. “Does he look like a prospect?”

The other prospect, Nico, gaped at him, blinking rapidly.

“Go clean the bathrooms,” He said, forcing himself to speak more calmly and quietly. But the prospects jumped at the command just the same, scurrying between him and Loki and heading down the hall. Thor groaned inwardly.

Loki, on the other hand, was grinning. “Shit.”

Thor began walking down the hall, in the opposite direction. “So, breakfast?”

“You get to boss them around like that all the time?”

“Technically, I can, but I usually don't.”

“Why not? That was awesome! They looked like they were gonna shit their pants!”

Thor took a deep breath, Loki bouncing along side of him.

“Can _I_ boss them around?”

“No, not unless I tell them you can.”

“Would you?”

“Probably not.”

Loki rolled his eyes.

Well, at least Loki was in a better mood than he was earlier.

\---

Thor slipped his jacket off as soon as he walked through the door, hanging it up and flopping on to the couch with groan. He pulled his sunglasses off and tossed them to the coffee table, pressing his fingertips to his aching eyes. 

“I wanna take a nap,” Loki said through a yawn. Thor grunted in agreement.

He grunted again as Loki flopped on top of him.

“Do I look like a bed to you?” Thor asked, chuckling as he draped an arm around Loki's waist.

“You _do_ , actually.”

Thor growled, pinching Loki's side and making him laugh and squirm.

_Oh no_ – He can't do _that_ again, he thought as his cock stiffened a bit from stimulation. Thor cleared his throat as Loki calmed and shifted him to lay more towards Thor's side. Loki sighed happily, his head tucked under Thor's chin, his body slack on top of Thor's. Thor's momentary panic began to subside, along with the slight erection. He relaxed, running his hand up and down Loki's back. 

A little while later, when Loki's breathing had gone slow and steady, Thor carefully pressed his mouth and nose to the top of Loki's head, inhaling deeply and pressing a tight-lipped kiss to his hair. He exhaled as he let his head drop back, warmth flooding his chest.

This was nice.


	7. Chapter 7

Loki watched Thor as he ate breakfast, resting his chin in one hand.

“So, like, have you ever had to kill someone?”

Thor's paused with a forkful of eggs halfway to his mouth. He stared at Loki for a moment before shoving it in.

Loki nudged his foot under the table when he stayed silent. Thor's shoulders tensed and relaxed, his free hand curling into a loose fist on the table.

“That's really the first question you're going to ask me?” He asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked back up at Loki.

“Seemed as good as any other question.” Loki shrugged, picking up a slice of bacon and chomping into it.

Thor sighed and dropped his fork on to his plate, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

They sat in silence as Thor seemed to mull over the question. Loki dropped his bacon and shifted in his seat, scooting closer to the edge of it to be a little closer to him. “I won't hate you, or get freaked out or whatever.”

Thor sagged, looking up at Loki. His fists had curled again, and he had to force them to relax, spreading his long, calloused fingers over the table in slow motion. “I... have.”

“Really?”

Thor nodded.

Loki scooted closer. “Did they owe money or something?”

Thor laughed, his smile not reaching his eyes. “No. You tend to get more money back from people who are still _alive_.”

Loki raised his eyebrows. “What _have_ you killed people for?”

Thor looked Loki in the eye at that, his expression serious enough to make Loki sink back into his seat and look away, down at his own plate.

“I'm not going to talk about that with you,” he said, his voice stern, but soft.

Loki nodded a little, not looking away from his plate. Thor sighed, reaching over and clasping his forearm, giving it a squeeze so Loki would look at him.

He said gently, “I'm not mad at you for asking. _Got it?_ ”

Loki's eyes drifted from Thor's face to his hand, nodding again. “Sorry.”

“It's fine.” Thor gave his arm a final squeeze before dropping away.

Another few quiet minutes passed. “What was the meeting about yesterday?”

Thor picked up his fork again, taking another bite of breakfast. “There might be someone staking out the club. Everyone needed to know to be on the lookout just in case.”

Loki stared at him. Thor chuckled, his good mood coming back in an instant, and knocked his foot in to Loki's. “You don't need to worry about it, okay?”

“Okay,” Loki whispered, poking at his eggs again.

Thor exhaled. “I wasn't sure if I should tell you. My parents didn't tell me any of this kind of stuff when I was your age, and I hated it, but now... I think I can kind of understand where they were coming from,” Thor added with a halfhearted chuckle. 

“Why?”

“It's kinda hard to explain.”

Loki waited, his fork dangling from the tip of his fingers

Thor set his fork down on to the plate, pushed it away, and rested his head against his fist. “I just... don't think you need to deal with this shit.”

Loki bristled, snapping back with, “I can deal with it.”

“Maybe you can,” Thor said with a soft smile. “But you shouldn't have to.”

Loki huffed, his jaw tightening as he looked back down at his plate. There was something about that that made a well of emotions swirl up in Loki, all so twisted up that Loki couldn't even make sense of them. A hard lump began to form in his throat. 

They finished breakfast in silence. Loki walked straight for the bedroom as soon as he had dumped his plate in the sink, grabbing Thor's laptop off the coffee table as he walked through the living room. He opened almost as soon as he flopped on to the bed. Setting his blank, unfocused stare on the generic background.

He _hated_ this. Loki swallowed hard, taking a few slow, deep breaths to try and keep his vision from blurring. Why couldn't Thor be fucking _normal_ and just have Loki blow him. At least _then_ he'd know exactly what the fuck he was here for.  He was dreading the day that Thor was finally done with him. He didn't know what to do, he never actually _cared_ about someone getting sick of him before.

He uncurled his fists when Thor turned on the stereo in the living room, the bass making the floorboards vibrate as some classic rock song played. He looked down at the stinging, red crescents he'd dug into his skin, taking a few more deep breaths. He shut the laptop and set it aside, walking silently out to the living room.

Thor was stretched out across the couch, head on one armrest, sock covered feet propped up on the other. He had an arm draped over his face, pulling the hem of his grey t-shirt up to show a sliver of his hip, the other laid across his stomach. Loki just stared at him for a few minutes. Fear and confusion and a million other feelings twisting around in him.

“Why are you so nice to me?” he blurted out. His voice cracked on the words, making his cheeks burn in shame.

Thor startled, lifting his arm from his face. Slowly he sat up, his eyes steady on Loki. “I don't know, you just seemed like you needed someone to be nice to you.”

Loki sniffed, vision blurring and fists curling tight enough that his nails bit into his palms again. “Is it just because you feel bad for me?”

Thor gave him a confused look. “Well... Yeah, that's _part_ of it. Or at least it was. I mean, you _were_ kind of pitiful looking when I found you,” he said with a lopsided grin.

Loki glared at him. 

Thor's smile fell. “Why do _you_ think I'm nice to you?”

“ _I don't fucking know!_ ” Loki shouted, tears streaming down his cheeks. “People have only ever done anything for me if they got money for it _or._..” Loki cut himself off with a huff, his eyes darting to Thor as he remembered the look on Thor's face as he reached for his belt that first night. He clenched his hands at his sides.

Thor gave him a sad look – a _pitying_ look – and Loki snapped, “ _STOP!_ ”

Thor stood from the couch, sighing Loki's name as he reached out for him. 

Loki ran back in to the bedroom, slamming the door shut and locking it. He stuffed himself in the corner of the room farthest from the door, curling himself against the wall and pressing his head between his knees. The music was turned down and he could hear Thor shuffling up to the door, and another sigh as he jiggled the knob.

“Loki?”

Loki hiccuped, hugging his legs tighter. There was another quiet rustling, and then nothing but the muffled sound music. He sat there until his sobs turned into sniffles, standing up and walking to the door, opening it. Thor sat on the floor, his head turned up and greeting Loki with a small, slightly cautious looking, smile.

“C'mere,” Thor said, patting the floor beside him. Loki sank back down, letting Thor pull him against his chest.

“I did, _at first_ , let you stay here because I felt bad for you. I still feel bad for you sometimes, _okay?_ But I also just like having you around now, whether you want to believe that or not.”

Loki nodded, curling a little more tightly against Thor, relaxing as Thor stroked his side.

“And maybe it's a _little_ bit because I don't exactly feel great about a lot of the things I do, and it feels nice to actually make someone's life a little better for a change. So, if you're looking for a more selfish reason, there you go.”

Loki looked up at that, finding a sad smile on Thor's face once again. Loki sucked in a shaky breath and tucked his face against Thor's chest, exhaling as Thor gave him a gentle squeeze.

They sat there for a while, bodies tangled awkwardly on the floor, until Thor's phone began chiming on the coffee table. Thor sighed and patted Loki's shoulder before they both peeled themselves off the floor and Thor went and looked. 

He smiled at Loki as he looked up from the screen of his phone. “Want to go hang out at the clubhouse for a bit?”

Loki smiled back and nodded.

\---

Loki watched Thor from his seat in one of the couches beside Darcy, unintentionally tuning her voice out as he watched Thor laugh at something Volstagg said while they played a card game at one of the tables farther away.

“That's so cute I'm not even annoyed about you not listening to me.”

Loki blinked, turning his attention back to her, already shrinking away from her knowing smirk. “What?”

Darcy giggled, “you're _ginormous_ crush on Thor. It's precious.”

Loki's cheeks went hot, and he tried to cover his blush with a glare. Darcy just laughed at him and cuffed his arm.

“Relax buddy! It's hard not get the hots for him.”

Loki flopped back against the seat and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked back to Thor just as he slammed his cards down on the table, letting out a victorious hoot that was followed by a chorus of boos from his friends.

Darcy pulled on a loose thread on the sleeve of his shirt. “You know, you might have a slightly better chance if you dressed a little less like a twelve year old in hand-me-downs.”

Loki shrugged. “These _are_ hand-me-downs. Thor gave them to me.” And part of him loved that, but he couldn't help but agree with Darcy. He felt like a scrawny little kid in them. Thor probably thought the same.

“Hmm.” Was all she said, looking over to Thor now as well. A smile slowly slid across her face and it made Loki slightly... _worried_.

“Come on,” she said as she grabbed Loki's wrist, pulling him from the couch and dragging him over to the table. She pushed him in front of her, her hands resting on Loki's shoulders as they came to a stop beside Thor. She had to push herself up to her toes to look over his shoulder.

Thor looked up at the two of them. “Yes?”

“It has recently come to my attention that our _dear_ little Loki here has been living in _your_ old clothes for weeks now, and as someone who was a teenager in the not so distant past I _know_ just how much shitty clothes can affect the self esteem.”

Thor's eyebrow rose slowly on his forehead. “O- _kay_...”

“I wanna take him shopping.” Everyone at the table sniggered.

“ _Oh_ ,” was all Thor said, blinking up at them.

“Well, she presents a convincing argument,” Volstagg added with a jovial laugh.

Loki wanted go dig a hole and die in it. Thor scanned him from head to toe, his friends looking on expectantly as they waited for Thor to answer.

“That sounds alright to me,” he said, finally. His eyes darted between the two of them before settling on Loki, silently asking if he was okay with it. Loki, gave a small nod of his head, wringing his hands in front of himself.

Darcy cleared her throat and raised her eyebrows at Thor.

“You need money don't you,” Thor sighed. Darcy bounced on her toes, tugging on Loki's shirt as Thor stood and reached into his back pocket.

He cleared his throat as he thumbed through the bills in his wallet, pulling out a stack and holding them out to Loki. He pulled his hand back as he and Darcy both reached for it. Using his other hand, his wallet still clutched in it, he pointed his finger at them and said sternly, “this _better_ get spent on _clothes_.”

Both of them nodded enthusiastically. Thor let out a small groan as he handed the money to Loki, sinking back to his chair with a huff. Darcy squealed behind him, dragging him away while he was still in a haze of shock.

“How much did he give you?” Darcy asked as soon as they were in her car.

Loki bit his lip, counting through the bills a second time, just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. “There's like, eight-hundred dollars.”

“Holy shit!” Darcy laughed. “ _Hello_ , sugar daddy.”

Loki felt his cheeks turn crimson. He folded up the money and stuffed it into his front pocket. He exhaled slowly, tapping his feet on the messy floor of Darcy's car. 

“Where should we go first,” Darcy sang as they pulled out of the clubhouse parking lot, drumming her fingers on top of the steering wheel. Loki sunk deeper into the passenger seat, filled with a strange mix of nerves and excitement. 

\---

The first store they went to was filled with all things neon, which wasn't really Loki's taste, but he ended up with a couple pairs of jeans and a few practically see-through t-shirts anyways. They went and got him underwear next, since Darcy couldn't help but notice the oversized boxers he'd been wearing. She laughed at Loki's embarrassment and threw pair after pair of briefs at him in the store. They decided to go look at shoes next.

“Ooh, look at these babies,” she said as she pulled out a pair of black patent leather heels. Loki looked up from the boot he was trying on, raising his eyebrow at the smirk on her face.

“Wanna try 'em on?” She bit her lip as she asked, swinging the shoes in her hands.

Loki smirked back at her, pulling off the other shoe and setting it aside. He slipped on the heels and stood up carefully, hanging on to the shelves for balance as he looked down at himself.

“I like them.”

“They don't make me too tall?”

Darcy snorted and rolled her eyes. “What the hell are you talking about? You're already _too tall_.”

Loki laughed and sank back down to the padded bench in the aisle, stretching out his legs to admire the shoes some more.

Darcy rested her chin in her hand, smirk back on her face once again. “Are you worried _Thor_ is gonna think you're too tall?”

“Shut up.”

Darcy snickered, picking up another one of the shoes they grabbed to try on and looking at it.

Loki pulled off the heels and set them aside, drumming his fingers on his thighs. “ _So_... What kind of, um, girl does he usually date?”

Darcy gave him another knowing look, setting the shoe down and sighing as she pushed her hair back. “Well, actually, I don't know. I haven't really seen him date since I've known him.”

Loki looked over to her, not wanting to feel too hopeful.

“I heard he was pretty wild when he was a bit younger, but that might've been just gossip.”

Loki just nodded, curiosity making his thoughts whirl.

“So, are we getting the heels, or what? I'm putting my vote in for the heels.”

\---

“Come out, I wanna see!”

Loki shuffled out of the dressing room, smiling as Darcy wolf-whistled at him from her seat on a bench just outside the dressing rooms. He looked at himself in the body-length mirror attached to the door, twisting a bit and admiring himself. 

“Those pants make your butt look super cute.”

Loki raked his hands through his hair. The overgrown mess of black waves flopping back into his eyes.

“You know, I know a hairdresser nearby, we should totally get your hair done.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah, she's super good too. I bet she can give you one of those cute little hipster haircuts.”

“My hair used to be kind of long,” he said with a wistful sigh, tugging on his hair in the mirror again.

“Really? What happened?”

“Got stuck in a home with this prick who had a military boner who gave me a fucking _buzzcut_.”

Darcy gasped, a hand going to her own hair. “That _fucker_.”

“Well, I did take a baseball bat to his Hummer, so I guess I got him back for that.”

Darcy gaped at him.

Loki shrugged. “He shouldn't have given me a shitty haircut.”

\---

Loki had changed into one of his new outfits in a McDonald's bathroom on the way to Thor's house. He shivered with nerves the rest of the way there. Darcy made him walk behind her as they went up to the house, forcing him to hide beside the door so Thor couldn't see him right away.

“It'll be more fun with a big reveal. Trust me.”

Loki bit his lip as Darcy knocked on the door. Thor answered moments later. Darcy held out her hand as if to stall Thor.

“I'd like to present to you the new and improved Loki.”

Loki turned on a heel and stood beside her, twisting his hands nervously behind his back.

Thor blinked at him, his mouth hanging open at him for a few long moments before shaking himself. He let out a shaky laugh and rubbed his forehead. “Wow. You look _really_ \- You changed your hair!”

Loki reached up and touched one of the shaved sides, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden. “Yeah...”

“It looks good! _Great_ actually. It really... suits you.” Thor blinked rapidly, his eyes skirting down Loki's body before he forced them back up to Loki's face.

“We should go get the bags,” Darcy interjected, making the both of them jump. Loki nodded quickly and followed her back to her car.

_Oh my god_ , she mouthed at him when they were bent over her trunk. “Did you see the _look_ on his _face!?_ ” she whispered.

“Yeah.” Loki laughed shyly and looped a few bags on to his wrists, his eyes darting back to the door where Thor was still standing. 

“Oh my god,” she wheezed as she hefted a few bags out of the trunk. Loki took the rest. Thor seemed to snap out of his haze when they were about halfway to the door, coming and grabbing a few bags from each of them.

Thor looked down at all the bags in their hands and chuckled. “Guess I'm gonna have to make some room in my closet, aren't I?”

Loki shrugged a shoulder, laughing softly.

As soon as Darcy had fluttered out the door Loki looked over at his pile of bags, the excitement of the whole excursion draining away and filling in with a strange sense of dread. He looked over to Thor, who quickly looked away from him to the tv.

“Is that too much?” he asked, pointing towards the bags.

Thor laughed, something about it making Loki relax, and said, “I _did_ give you a lot of money and you _did_ spend it on clothes... Do you like you're stuff?” He asked, his eyes looking pointedly up at Loki's face.

Loki looked down at himself and tugged at the hem of his shirt. “Yeah.”

Thor smiled. “Good.”

“I guess I should put this stuff away.”

“You need any help?”

Loki crouched down, looping his hands through some of the bags. “Um, I might.”

Thor grabbed what Loki couldn't carry and they dragged it all in to the bedroom. 

Thor pushed his own clothes aside and dug out some hangers from his junk closet. He even helped Loki hang up his new clothes. 

Thor picked up the bag with his new underwear in it as Loki hung up one of his new pairs of jeans, pulling out a little green pair just as Loki turned back to him. They both stood there, gaping at each other for a moment before Thor shook himself. He dropped the briefs back in to the bag with a nervous laugh and handed to Loki.

“I, _uh_ , think you've got it from there,” he said as he began backing out of the room. “Just clear whatever drawer you want. I'll be in there. Uh, yeah.” He cleared his throat and left the room, leaving the door cracked open behind him. 

Loki stood there, listening as Thor turned up the tv. His face felt hot. 

He definitely had a chance now. He let out a giddy laugh and hopped in place for a moment before forcing himself to calm down and put the rest of his stuff away.

He opened the shoebox with the heels, giving them a long look before closing it back up and shoving them into the back of the closet. He wasn't one-hundred percent sure about those yet.

\---

They both woke to the sound of Thor's phone ringing. Thor rolled up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed as he answered, his voice extra deep and gravelly. “Yeah?”

“You saw which way they were going? ...Yeah, I'll be right there.”

He yawned as he hung up. Looking over his shoulder at Loki, he said, “Sif thinks she spotted the van at her place. Her and a few of the other guys are going to go see if we can find anything.”

“You're going?”

“Yeah,” Thor sighed, standing and stretching with a heavy groan. Loki watched Thor as he walked around to the other side of the room and pulled on his jeans. He grabbed his socks and boots and moved back to the bed, sitting on the edge bed beside Loki to put them on. “I should only gone for an hour or two, hopefully.”

Loki nodded, watching Thor's hair slide over his shoulder and cover the side of his face. 

Thor stood and bent over Loki, his hand resting heavily on Loki's hip. “You just hang tight here and sleep, and don't answer the door if anyone knocks.” Before Loki could even comprehend what was happening, Thor's head dipped down and he pressed a quick kiss to Loki's temple. 

Loki was still blinking in shock as Thor pulled back and began walking away. His steps faltered at the doorway to the bedroom, seeming to finally realize what he'd just done. He looked back over his shoulder, the two of them just staring at each other for a second before Thor looked away and began walking again. 

Loki dropped back down on to the bed when he heard the front door shut. A small, giddy laugh escaping his chest as he listened to Thor rumble away.

Oh, he definitely had _more_ than a chance.


	8. Chapter 8

Thor scrubbed his hair with a vigor that was only brought on by seeing one tiny thing that managed to completely fuck your day in two seconds.

He was turning thirty in two days.

It wasn't turning thirty in itself that he particularly cared about. Not _really_. It was more the reminder of how fast time was passing and how that amplified the vague dissatisfaction he felt with his life.

And maybe it had just a little to do with Loki. Pretty, _too goddamn young_ Loki.

He was _almost_ regretting giving Loki the money to buy clothes, purely because of how it was chipping away at his own sanity. Though with the way Loki's confidence had shot up, he could only manage to feel bad for a few moments.

He huffed, staring off at the beige tiles as hot water pounded on his chest. He grunted, scrubbing his hands over his face once more before shutting it off. He robotically wrung out his hair and dried off with a towel before stepping from the tub.

Maybe he was just tired.

Wiping the condensation from the mirror, he spent a few minutes looking at himself, running his fingers over the stubbled edges of his short beard, his eyes flicking over to his trimmer, Loki's razor sitting just beside it.

He shaved it all off with hardly a thought. He looked at himself in the mirror in something close to shock when he had finished. He looked a bit younger with a clean face.

He cleared his throat at tossed the razor in the trash, grabbing a fresh one from the medicine cabinet and putting it in it's place. Wrapping the towel tighter around his hips he made his way out of the bathroom. He moved quietly, mindful of Loki curled up under the covers, and got dressed. He spared one more glance over at Loki, a sharp pang of want stabbing through his chest as he thought of going over and doing something stupid again like kissing the top of his head.

He went and made coffee instead, shoveling cereal into his mouth as he waited for it to brew. He didn't go into the bedroom again and finished getting ready for work in the living room, silently hating how he felt like he was dragging himself out the door.

\---

“I'm just putting this out there: The Velvet Lounge.” Fandral shouted as Thor hammered the frame of the wall into the concrete foundation. Thor let out an exasperated sigh as he gave the nail a few more whacks before dropping the small sledgehammer. He looked up at Fandral from where he was crouched on the ground, squinting a little since the sun was beating down on them now.

“Come on!” Fandral said with a shrug of his shoulders, leaning against one of the studs. “It's your thirtieth birthday! The big _three-oh!_ You've had quiet birthdays for like, three years now. Guys help me out here.”

“How's the buffet?” Volstagg asked as he laid out the wood for the next wall.

“Amazing, but more importantly: _there's naked women_.”

Thor wiped away the sweat dripping down his face and adjusted his sunglasses, crawling to the next spot he needed to nail down. “I really don't want to make a big deal out of it, okay? Lets just hang out and drink,” he said, fishing another nail from his tool belt, holding it in place as he grabbed his sledgehammer.

“I didn't think you'd be so touchy about turning thirty,” Sif said, leaning against the stud at the other side of Thor. She pushed her sunglasses up on to the top of her head and raised an eyebrow at him.

Thor shrugged and began hammering. “I'm not being touchy, I don't care. It's just another day.”

“Then let it _be_ just another day, but with _strippers_ and a _big cake_ ,” Fandral chimed in again, grinning.

“My wife will kill me if I go to a strip club,” Hogun added behind them, picking up where Volstagg had left off as he took another break.

“Then just don't tell her.”

Hogun and Volstagg shared a look. Hogun cleared his throat and asked Fandral, “do you ever wonder why you haven't had a relationship that lasted longer than a month?”

Fandral blinked. “No. Why?”

“Because you shouldn't.”

Thor stopped hammering, looking back up at Fandral, and said, “I don't want to go _The Velvet Lounge_ or any other strip club. I mean it.”

Fandral's shoulders slumped, huffing as he stomped off  to go sit on top of his toolbox. They all rolled their eyes simultaneously at his pouting. There was a rumble as a familiar SUV pulled into the site, up next to the trailer where Odin dealt with the club's more legitimate business from. Thor watched as his mother climbed out of the driver's seat, bag of fast food in hand. Loki hopped out just after, with his own bag. Thor quickly looked away and went back to hammering, hitting the nail a little harder than might've been necessary..

“ _Ah_ , I see,” Sif said, crouching beside him.

“What?”

“Is _that_ why you shaved and are trying to act like you're birthday isn't a big deal?”

Thor's blood drained from his face. He glanced over at her, swallowing hard at the smirk on his friend's face.

“Being a surrogate big brother is making you feel all _old_ and shit,” she laughed, nudging him with her elbow.

Thor let out the breath he'd been holding with a forced laugh. “Yeah, I guess.” _God_. He's a really _fucked up_ big brother, then.

Loki came up just then, smiling brightly in a transparent white t-shirt and a pair of black jeans that looked they were painted on. “Hey- _Whoa_. You shaved.” His eyebrows raised in surprise above the frames of the black sunglasses he also wore.

“He's freaking out about turning thirty,” Sif answered _oh so helpfully._

Loki gave him a confused look. “It's your birthday?”

“On Thursday,” Sif added.

Thor forced out another laugh, giving up on getting any more work done for now, and set his sledgehammer down. “ _So...”_

“I brought you lunch,” Loki said, holding the bag up.

There was a chorus of _aww's_ and Thor had to resist the urge to toss something at one of his friends heads. “Great- _Uh_ , let's go somewhere not covered in sawdust.”

He led Loki back to where he had his truck parked, the both of them sitting in the cab with the doors open to let the hot breeze drift through.

“I can go back and eat in you're mom's car if you'd rather be with your friends,” Loki said as he played with the corner of the wrapper to his burger, his voice soft.

“Oh _no_ – It's not like – They're just being annoying today, it's not you.”

Loki smiled a little, taking a bite of his own burger. Thor followed suit, the silence between them easy and backed by the sounds of whining saws and hammers banging a little ways away.

“Is it really your birthday on Thursday?” Loki asked after a few minutes.

“Yeah. I was kind of trying to ignore it. Which is _impossible_ , apparently.”

“Is that really why you shaved?” There was a teasing lilt to Loki's voice, pink lips curving into a smirk.

Thor laughed around a mouthful of fries. “I guess so, I wasn't really thinking when I did it.”

“You look good without the beard. You look good with it too, though. _Really good_.”

Thor stuffed more fires into his mouth, mumbling out a thanks as a hot breeze blew through the truck.

Just as Thor crammed the last of his burger into his mouth, he spotted Heimdall strolling towards them, lit cigarette hanging from his mouth. Thor finished chewing quickly, crunching up the bag and shoving it under the seat.

“Shit, I better get going. You can finish eating here if you want.” Loki nodded and Thor really had to resist the urge to lean over and give him a peck on the cheek.

Quickly pushing that thought down, he jogged up to Heimdall, the two of them nodding in greeting. They walked back to the site side-by-side.

“Odin's got something for you to do. After work, of course.”

Thor held back a groan. “Great.”

“Don't sound too excited,” Heimdall said with a smile, pulling the cigarette from his lips to offer a drag to Thor. 

Thor chuckled and shook his head. He pushed back a few sweat-damp locks of hair that had fallen from his ponytail. “Can't you go go hassle Fandral or something? He's probably trying call up a bunch of strippers for my birthday right now.”

“Why would I want to stop _that?_ ”

Thor laughed, smacking Heimdall on the arm lightly as he turned towards the trailer. His mother stepped out just as he came up to it.

“Loki's by my truck out back.”

“Alright,” she said, voice bright and cheery as she hoped down the steps. “You be safe, sweetheart,” she called as she made her way to her SUV.

“You too,” Thor called back.

He shivered as he stepped inside the trailer, the small AC unit puttering away in the window and filling the small space with chilly air. “Heimdall said you got something for me?” 

Odin nodded, pushing aside some of the papers he'd been looking at. “Arnie Fowler has come up short in his last three payments. I just need you to go and make sure he has his priorities in order.”

Thor nodded, a sort of numb feeling washing over him. “No problem. He'll be in the usual places you think?”

“I wouldn't be surprised,” Odin said with a lazy gesture of his hand.

“I'll go after work.”

“Thank you. That's all I have for you for now,” Odin said as he went back to his paper work. Thor stepped out to find his mother's SUV, and Loki, long gone. He walked back to the site feeling hollow, the smile on his face forced as he was greeted by his friends again.

\---

The club Arnie did most of his dealing at was a place called _Snickerdoodles_ , which was possibly one of the stupidest names for a nightclub Thor could think of. The plain brick building was set between a mattress store and a run-down gas station on an other wise empty stretch of road, it's cracked and glass covered parking lot nearly empty since the sun hadn't set yet. Thor parked his bike under the club's dated, fading sign, the once bright red paint the club's name had been written in now a sickly shade of pink.

Arnie's shit car was there, as expected, and parked crookedly. Thor climbed off his bike and made his way inside, approaching the bar that some wrung out, overly made up redhead was scrubbing. She looked up as Thor approached, her eyes going wide at the site of him. She ducked behind it.

Thor rolled his eyes. “I need to see Arnie Fowler.”

Frizzy hair and a pair of dark eyes surrounded by smeared eyeliner peaked over the bar. “You ain't planning to shoot up the place are you?”

Thor put on a cheery grin. “Not if I don't have to. Where is he?”

“I'm pretty sure he's in the office with Walt,” she said, cocking her head towards the dark hallway tucked in the back corner of the main floor.

“Thanks,”Thor said, marching towards it. The hallway was nearly pitch black, the only light coming in a sliver from the bottom of a door. The office, he was sure. He gave the door a few hard knocks, the whole thing rattling under his fist.

“Oh for fucks sake, Marla! Fuck off already! I'm doing business in here!”

“Is Arnie Fowler in there?”

There was a chorus of thumps and curses from inside the room. The door swung open to reveal a paunchy, balding man that stood to about Thor's shoulder, the pissed look on his face melting away as he looked from Thor's jacket to his face. Thor looked away from him and into the office, full of dark, cheap furniture that looked like it was bought in the attempt to make the place look classy. Any effect it _might_ have had was ruined by the musty smell of weed and booze.

He smiled as he spotted Arnie, with his pasty skin and fuzzy brown hair, cowering behind a filing cabinet. He looked back down at the other man. 

“Walt, right? Care if I have a word alone with good ole Arnie for just a moment? It's business.”

Walt opened and closed his mouth a few times.

Thor stepped aside, giving him a stern look and said with a snap of his fingers. “Out _now_.”

Walt scrambled out of the room and Thor stepped inside, shutting the door and locking it.

“Shitshit _shit_ -”

Thor leaned against the cabinet, looking down at Arnie as he clutched his head in his bony hands. “So, I'm guessing you know what I'm here for.”

“I'll get you guys the money I owe, okay? I just need a little extra time! Business has been slow.” Arnie shot up from the floor, looking frantic with dark circles around his dingy grey eyes.

Thor smiled and tilted his head. “Business hasn't been _slow_ , Arnie. All the other dealers have been paying the right amount just fucking fine. _You've_ been dipping into your supply.”

“No I haven't! I swear, people are just not buying the pills right now.”

Thor leaned forward, his eyes narrowing dangerously. He spoke softly, but every word made Arnie jump anyways. “Do you think I'm _stupid_ , Arnie? Do you think I can't _see_ how fucked up you are right now?”

“ _Shit_ ,” Arnie whimpered, teeth chattering. He buried his face in to his hands.

“This isn't going to happen anymore, right?”

“No- _nonono._ ”

“Good,” Thor said pleasantly. “Now, give me you're hand.”

Arnie looked back up at him, eyes wide. “W-what?”

“ _Give me you're hand_.”

Arnie reached out, his whole arm trembling. Thor grabbed his wrist with one hand, his fingers with the other. Arnie began to babble – _Wait! No! I'll get you're money tomorrow!_ – as Thor pulled his fingers back, his eyes darting from their hands to his face.

Thor spoke softly, Arnie's clammy skin forcing him to adjust his grip. “Consider this your gentle reminder to not _snort_ what you're supposed to _sell_.”

Arnie's fingers folded back with a sickeningly loud set of cracks, his sharp scream ringing in Thor's ears.

\---

Loki smiled brightly at him from the couch as he walked through the front door, sitting up and shutting the laptop and setting it on the coffee table. “Hey.”

“Hey you.” Thor smiled and shrugged off his jacket, feeling lighter already. Thor toed off his boots and made his way to the couch, flopping down beside Loki with a yawn.

“What'd you have to go and do?” Loki asked. He pulled his legs up on the couch, folding himself up tightly.

Thor felt his mouth twitch. “Just club business.”

“Ah.” 

Thor leaned over Loki to snatch the remote, flipping through the channels mindlessly. Loki scooted closer, resting his head against Thor's shoulder. He lifted his arm and wrapped it around Loki, pulling him against Thor's side. Loki brought his arm around Thor's waist, hugging him tight. Thor let out a heavy sigh, relaxing further into the couch and settling on some mindless reality show. 

\---

The next morning, Thor came to a sudden stop in the doorway as he left for work. The van was sitting directly across from his house. The low rumble of it's engine that had been lost when he was inside was now seemed thunderous out in the open, the street otherwise silent this early in the morning.

It peeled away before Thor could react.

He snarled and slammed the door shut. He ran towards his garage, yanking his phone out of his pocket and dialing the first number, adrenaline coursing through him.

“Yeah?” Sif answered. He yanked the garage door open 

“He was sitting outside my fucking house, _right across the fucking street,_ ” he growled. He hopped on to his bike and started it with a roar.

Sif's voice was nearly blocked out by the sound of it. “The van?” 

“I'm gonna try and follow it, you call the others,” Thor said before hanging up, shoving his phone back into his pocket and pulling out. He sped down the street in the direction of the van, his eyes narrowed as he looked down intersecting streets, the job made much more difficult with how dark it was.

He spent an hour weaving through the streets, the rush of anger dropping off more and more the longer he went without finding any sign of the van. He stopped in the middle of a dead end street, the pavement ending abruptly at a grassy field with a patch of trees in the middle of it.

He sighed and slumped forward on to the handlebars, feeling exhausted and irritated. His phone began ringing, forcing him to move and fish from his pocket.

“You better not be fucking dead, _you dipshit_ ,” Sif snapped.

Thor let out a tired chuckle, running a hand down his face. “I'm fine. I fucking lost him, but I'm fine.”

Sif sighed.

“We're gonna catch him eventually,” she said a moment later.

“We fucking better. He's pissing me off now.” 

Sif laughed. “I'll make sure you get the first punch, then.”


	9. Chapter 9

“I want you to start carrying this with you.”

Loki blinked at the knife Frigga slapped into his hand, it's blade folded back into the handle.  They sat on the porch of Frigga and Odin's house, on a pair of comfortable patio chairs as they looked out to the backyard and the field that surrounded it.

He was just trying to figure out what he was going to wear to Thor's birthday party. He had a feeling her could at least get Thor to let Loki blow him if he played his cards right.

“Just so you have something to protect yourself with, should the need arise,” she added, a muggy breeze blowing her hair off her shoulder.

“I've never stabbed anyone,” he said for lack of a better response.

She let out a quiet laugh. “I figured,” she said as she moved closer. She took the knife back out of Loki's hand, flipping it open with a an unsettling ease before placing it back into Loki's palm. She wrapped his fingers around the handle carefully, his thumb resting where the blade met the handle.

“Holding it like this will give you the most distance.” A soft smile crossed her face and she patted Loki's hand as she sat back in her chair. “Play with it a little bit, get used to having it in your hands.”

Loki's mouth hung open for a few seconds before he went to fold the knife again. He struggled with it for a minute before the blade snapped back in place, making Loki flinch. He stared at it, flipping it from palm to palm before looking back at Frigga again.

“So, have _you_ ever...?” he asked, waving the knife a bit.

Frigga laughed again and then took another sip of her iced tea. “I've done what I had to do.”

Loki nodded, exhaling slowly as he slumped back into his chair.

\---

“What's this?” Thor asked, picking up the folded knife from the coffee table.

“Your mom gave it to me today. She told me to start carrying it around in case I need to protect myself.” Loki shrugged, his fingers still on the keyboard of the laptop resting on his belly as he laid on the couch.

Thor glanced back down at him, flipping the knife in his hand before letting out a resigned sigh and nodding. He set the knife back down and sank on to the couch, Loki moving his feet out of the way as he did. Loki stretched back out after he settled, resting his feet in Thor's lap. Thor's hand came to rest on Loki's ankle, his fingers kneading into it gently.

_[who's thor??]_

Loki peeked over the screen, gnawing on his lip as he typed out _the guy i've been living with_ and hit publish. Another question popped up a minute later as he scrolled. _[is he hot?]_

Loki bit harder on his lip. _[unbearably]_ He clicked on to another tab and began scrolling again.

“What you spend so much time doing on there?” Thor asked with a chuckle.

Loki shrugged again, stopping on a gifset of a man with thick arms muscle a smaller one on to his hands and knees. “Just looking at stuff.” He exited out quickly and shut the laptop, setting it on the coffee table and hoisting himself up.

“I'm gonna take a shower.”

Thor answered with a grunt while Loki walked towards the bedroom, a hot flush creeping up his neck.

\---

Loki eyed the heels for a moment before shaking his head and shoving them back into the closet. Not tonight. He slipped on his more clompy boots and took a final look at himself in the cracked, full-length mirror inside the door of Thor's closet. He smiled at his reflection, twisting and turning, tugging on the hem of his loose tank top and smoothing his hands down his hips.

He ran his hands through his hair once more before he walked out to the living room. Thor was tapping away on his phone on the couch, his body slumped and looking decidedly unhappy.

“How do I look?” Loki asked brightly. Thor looked up from his phone, crystal blue eyes scanning him.

He blinked and tore his gaze away to look down at his phone. “ _Good_... really very good.” He cleared his throat and stood. “So, ready to go?”

“Yup.”

“Grab the helmet and we'll head out.”

Loki groaned. “Come _on_.”

“You're wearing it.”

Loki huffed and stomped over to the coat hooks where it hung, snatching it off a glower before continuing out the door.

The party was already in full swing by the time they arrived. Motorcycles and cars packed the lot and the street that the clubhouse sat on. Thor wove through them all to get to the spots specifically for the members. Out back, in the big plot of land that made up the clubhouse's backyard a bonfire was burning high into the sky. Women danced around it to music filtering from a banged up looking radio, while more music came muffled from inside.

“Holy shit,” Loki said as he pulled off the damn helmet, the excitement making him jittery.

Thor let out a heavy sigh and kicked down the stand, taking the helmet from Loki after they had climbed off. Loki headed towards the door to the club, only to be stopped by Thor's hand on his chest.

“I have _one_ rule: _No drinking_. Got it?”

Loki blinked up at him. “Okay.” _One_ drink couldn't hurt though.

Thor let his hand fall, his fingers skimming down Loki's front and leaving him momentarily distracted. He shook it off and ran inside, heading straight for the bar to find Darcy.

The lounge was _packed_. Loki couldn't even spot any of Thor's friends in the crowd. There were plenty of guys in leather jackets, but the insignias were different. A few strippers clad in nothing but gaudy looking thongs swayed on the tables, surrounded by hollering men and a haze of smoke. Loki pushed his way through the throng to get to the bar, finding a few women he didn't recognize behind it serving drinks.

“Darcy!?”

She popped up from behind the bar, eyes scanning over the people before landing on him. “Loki! You're here! I almost thought Thor wouldn't let you come out to play.”

Loki leaned over the bar. “Can I have a drink?” he shouted over the music.

Darcy narrowed her eyes – wrapped in dark, smudged eyeliner – at him. “Is Thor okay with you drinking?”

“No,” he replied with a grin.

Darcy's eyes narrowed further, ignoring someone shouting a drink order at her and asked, “you won't tell him I was the one that gave you booze?”

“Course not.”

Darcy smirked. “Pick your poison, my rebellious little friend.”

\---

Loki stumbled through the packed hallways for excruciating minutes in attempt to find a bathroom before giving up and going outside, walking to the deserted side of the building, a small patch of overgrown grass cluttered with beer bottles and cans. He sighed, leaning heavily against the wall as he emptied his bladder.

“-Really? _Him?_ You know there are a million chicks here tonight, right?”

“A mouth's a mouth, bro. And that Loki guy seems pretty easy.”

Loki peeked around the corner, recognizing both guys as prospects from the club as they walked out the same door Loki had. The blondish one – _Ronald?_ Something like that – he vaguely remembered meeting.

“I don't know – Ain't he like, Thor's property or somethin'? I don't think I'd fuck around with him.” said the other, scratching at his frizzy brown hair and sliding his hand over a fresh, blob-y tattoo on the side of his neck.

Ronald – Roald? _Roald!_ Roald scoffed, “so? That guy's an asshole.”

The other one laughed. “You've got a fuckin' death wish, dude.”

Loki's mouth twisted in to a snarl. He tucked himself back into his pants and walked as steadily as he could from behind the corner, following a little farther behind the two.

“ _Hey!_ ” he called out a few moments later, running up to them. They both stopped and turned. Loki skidded to a stop, swaying on his feet. He let out a breathless laugh. “Finally, people I recognize.”

“Hey Loki,” Roald said with a lecherous grin, the other prospect sighing softly.

Loki smiled as though he hadn't noticed either of those things. “The bar is fucking swamped in there, do you guys know if there's anywhere else to get a drink?”

“Oh yeah, there's some coolers by the bonfire. Me and Max were just heading over there.”

“I'm going to head back inside, actually,” Max said, rubbing at his tattoo again as he began walking back to the clubhouse. “Good luck,” he whispered just loud enough for them to hear.

“Guess it's just the two of us, then,” Roald said with a shrug of his shoulder.

Loki let out squeaky laugh. “Lead the way.”

He walked unsteadily(which was only _partly_ him faking it), bumping in to some cars here and there and letting out a forced laugh every time, until Roald put an arm around him and steadied him on the rest of the walk to the bonfire. Five coolers were lined up side-by-side, lids flung open to reveal bottles and cans packed around with melting ice.

“What do you want?”

“Whatever's good.”

Roald laughed as he bent over and grabbed a couple of bottles, handing one to Loki before they sat on the ground somewhere a little further off.

Loki took a slow slip from his bottle, looking out the corner of his eye at Roald, dragging his gaze up and down.

“Yeah?” Roald asked, eyebrow raised.

“Nothing,” Loki said, “I just really like the whole leather and... _badness_ thing going on here tonight, I guess.”

“Oh yeah?”

Loki hummed rolling on to his belly. “Yeah. Thor's so _boring_ , honestly.”

Roald let out a derisive laugh, taking a sip of his drink. “Yeah, I hear all these stories about how wild he used to be – but I don't believe it. Guy seems like he's always had a stick up his ass.”

Loki laughed too loudly.

“Why you with him, anyways?”

“I'm not with him like _that_.” Loki shrugged. “But it's better than living on the streets, I guess.”

Roald hummed and nodded. Loki drained the rest of his drink, the warm, fuzzy buzz of alcohol rushing through his limbs. He waved the bottle as he rolled and sat back up.

“Get me another?” he asked sweetly.

Roald hopped up and Loki tossed the bottle away. He caught sight of Sif sitting beside Volstagg and Hogun on some lawn chairs, possibly watching him. Roald came back, handing a fresh bottle to Loki before sitting back down. Closer.

Loki sighed as raised his arms above his head and stretched, his back arching.  
Roald's eyes dragged over Loki. “Tired already?”

Loki laughed softly as he relaxed, taking a sip from his beer. “Not at all... A little bored though.”

“You wanna dance?” Roald said, nodding his head towards a pair of strippers gyrating against each other by the fire.

Loki scrunched his nose and shook his head. “I don't have the tits for that,” he said with a wave of his hand. Roald let out a bark of laughter.

Loki leaned in, holding the mouth of the bottle to his lips as he added, “don't really need them for what I'm good at, though.” He swigged his beer again, watching through his lashes as Roald licked his own.

Loki smirked as he pulled the bottle away. “I mean, a mouth's a mouth, _right?_ ”

An odd look passed over Roald's face before he let out another laugh. “Yeah, man.”

“Can we go somewhere more private?”

Roald's eyes darted around for a moment before saying, “yeah, come on.”

He grabbed Loki's wrist and pulled him up, leading him farther back to the edge of the lot. It was lined with trees and shrubs, far enough from the bonfire to only be lit with the eerie glow from the moon. Loki glanced back over his shoulder just in time to see Sif standing from her chair. He lurched as the toe of his boot snagged on a half buried rock, yelping as he fell into Roald's back and dropped his beer. Roald yanked him back up and kept dragging him along.

Loki stumbled over more rocks and branches as they walked a few feet into the trees. Maybe he had had a few too many shots with Darcy. He yanked on Roald's jacket, pulling him over to one of the trees towards the front, and pushed him against it. Loki pressed against him, leaning in, their lips nearly brushing before Roald shoved him back.

“A mouth's a mouth, but I ain't fucking kissing you.”

“ _Fine_ ,” Loki snapped, “don't need to get all fucking _pissy_ about it.”

Roald just grunted and grabbed Loki's shoulders, forcing him to his knees.

 _Ow_. “So rough.”

“Just fucking start sucking. _Jesus-_ ”

“Impatient too,” Loki said, clicking his tongue as he worked the fly of Roald's jeans open, his uncoordinated fingers fumbling with it. “No _wonder_ you could only get _me_ to suck your cock.”

“Huh?”

“I seemed pretty easy, right? And _look at me now_ ,” he said with a laugh as he ripped open the zipper to Roald's jeans.

Loki sputtered as his head was wrenched back, pinpricks of pain shooting from his scalp where Roald had a hand twisted in his hair.

“The _fuck_ are you trying to pull?”

“Just trying to have a little fun – _Ah!_ ,” Loki hissed as Roald pulled his head farther back.

“ _Loki!?_ ”

“Thor!” Loki cried, making his voice sound pained.

Roald glared down at him, his jaw clenched as he spoke. “You _set me up_ you piece of shit faggot-”

Thor came stomping up just then, his hands curling into fists as he looked from Loki to Roald, time seeming to freeze in that moment. Loki could swear that Thor's eyes were _lit_ with rage. It sent a shudder down his spine, a tiny sigh passing through his lips. A growl rumbled from deep in Thor's chest as he stomped over, dead branches snapping like bones under his boots. Roald finally let go of Loki's hair, his hands flying up defensively as he tried to back away from Thor. Loki crawled back as Thor stepped closer.

“I- I thought- He fucking-”

Thor swung, his fist meeting smack dab in the middle of Roald's face. He hit him twice more, once in the gut and then in the jaw, before pulling back. His whole body vibrated with tension as Roald slid down the trunk of the tree in a daze.

Loki had never been more turned on in his life. He couldn't force the grin from his face as he watched Thor, chest heaving, as he stared down at Roald.

“I'll fucking _kill you_ ,” was all Thor said, voice deep and gravelly. Roald twitched and whimpered.

Thor turned to him, eyes narrowing, and grunted as he bent down and yanked Loki up by the arm. He stumbled as Thor dragged him back through the lot again.

“You're drunk,” Thor growled.

“That guy was calling you an asshole.”

Thor stopped and turned to look at him. “The fuck did you do?”

Loki shrugged. “I heard him talking to one of the other guys about getting a blowjob from me and – I don't _know_...”

Thor sighed and started walking again. “We're going home.”

“Are you mad at me?”

“I'm fucking _pissed_ , kid.”

Loki shrunk back, his throat going tight as he let Thor haul him back to the bike. Silently, he shoved the helmet on to Loki's head and climbed on, starting it up with a roar.

“Get the fuck on.”

Loki did, sniffling inside the helmet as he gripped Thor's waist. The ride was short and tense. Loki pulled off the helmet as soon as they had parked in the driveway, clutching it to his chest as he followed Thor in the house.

“Get changed and go to fucking bed,” Thor commanded, jabbing his finger towards the door.

Loki nodded even though Thor had his back turned to him, shuffling into the other room. He dropped the helmet and shut the door, peeling off his tank top as he tried to hold back his tears. He fumbled with his jeans as he went to sit on the bed, missing it and landing hard on the floor. He couldn't hold back the tears after that, curling up and weeping on to his knees.

_He hates me. I ruined it._

He had to do _something._

He wiped his face roughly with his hand and stood on wobbly legs. He shoved his pants down his legs, nearly tripping as he kicked them off , leaving him in nothing but in a pair of green briefs. He went to the closet and dug out the heels. He sat down on the floor and pulled them on, clinging on to the doorjamb as he stood back up. He barely made it to the door without falling, swinging it open.  
Thor was on the couch, flipping through the tv channels with an scowl. His eyes went wide when he looked over at Loki.

“What the fuck are you doing,” he groaned, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

“I wanna fix your birthday.” Loki took a chance and stepped forward, wobbling a bit, but managing to stay steady enough.

“Loki, go to fucking bed.”

“No wait-” Loki took another step, then another, his ankle giving out on him. He collapsed to the floor with a chorus of thumps, a sob escaping his throat before he could contain it.

“Shit.” Thor huffed and got up from the couch, pulling Loki up from the floor. He wrapped an arm around Loki's waist, half-carrying him back in to the bedroom.

He dropped Loki on to the bed and knelt down to pull the heels off before manhandling Loki under the covers. Loki hiccuped, reaching out to grab Thor's forearm as he turned to leave.

Loki swallowed around the lump in his throat, his voice coming out small and meek when he asked, “do y-you hate me?”

Thor's face softened. He sat on the edge of the bed and ran his hand through Loki's hair. “Of course I don't hate you... But _why_ did you do that?”

“He pissed me off.”

Thor let out a heavy sigh. “And what were you going to do if I hadn't had come?”

Loki shrugged a shoulder, picking at a loose thread on the comforter. “Bite his dick off or something.”

Thor laughed, burying his face in his hands and shaking his head. “ _Goddammit kid_.”

Loki stayed quiet, watching Thor as he dragged his hands down his face and exhaled slowly.

“Don't fucking pull that kind of shit Loki, that's the kind of thing that gets you _killed._ ”

“I liked seeing you hit him.”

“I think it's time for you to sleep.” Thor moved to stand, but Loki caught his arm again.

“Can't you sleep with me? I don't like sleeping without you.”

Thor stared down at him for a moment before sighing again, sitting back down to pull off his boots. He climbed behind Loki, stretching out on top of the blankets, and wrapped his arms around Loki as he turned over. Loki hummed as Thor hugged him to his chest, his head tucked under Thor's chin and arms curled between their bodies. He inhaled deeply, filling his head with the smell of Thor's cologne, his eyelids getting heavy.

“Loki?”

“ _Hm?_ ”

“What's with the heels?”

“I dunno... I juss... Do you like them?”

“Do _you_ like them? Or do you like them because you think _I_ like them?”

Loki scrunched his eyebrows. “What?”

“Whatever, just go to sleep.”

Loki nodded against Thor's chest and did just that.

\---

Loki woke with a headache and an _urgent_ need to piss. Groaning, he rolled out of bed and hobbled to the bathroom, wincing when he flicked the light on. He pressed his head to the wall above the toilet, sighing in relief as his bladder emptied. He flushed and shut the light off before walking back into the bedroom, his eyes went wide at the sight of his heels laying haphazardly on the floor. He scrambled to pick them up and toss them back into the closet, cursing himself as he pulled on a pair of Thor's sweatpants and a t-shirt. He squinted as he walked through the living room to the dining room, all bright and sunny and fucking awful.

Thor poked his head out from the kitchen with a broad grin.

“Good morning!”

Loki groaned and flopped into one of the seats at the table, burying his face in the crook of his arm.

“Breakfast's gonna be done in a couple minutes. Need some water?”

“ _Please_ ,” Loki said, voice muffled.

Thor chuckled. A glass was set down in front of him moments later. He looked up, Thor was holding a couple of tylenols in his palm. When he reached for them, Thor pulled his hand back.

“Next time I tell you no drinking, _you won't drink_ , right?”

“Yeah fine just give me the goddamn pills.”

Thor chuckled and handed them over, walking back to the kitchen.

Loki moaned when Thor set down a plate piled with pancakes and sausage, snatching the plastic bottle of syrup dousing everything with it. Thor laughed as he sat down with a plate of his own, patiently waiting for Loki to finish before taking the bottle.

The comfortable silence they'd been eating in was broken by a soft know on the door. Thor got up and went to answer. One of his neighbors was at the door, an envelope in her hand.

“I think it blew into my yard or something,” the woman said with a shrug.

“Thanks,” Thor said softly, giving the young woman a friendly smile before she turned away. He examined it as he shut the door. Loki walked over, hugging his arms around himself. It was an envelope for a card, big and and bright blue with “THOR” written in black marker. Thor opened it cautiously, sparing a glance at Loki as he did. Thor tugged the card out, the words “Happy Birthday” spelled out in white bubble letters and surrounded by colorful balloons. Thor sighed and opened it. Loki stepped beside him, reading it around his shoulder.

_Had fun at the party last night. Did you see me? I saw you. All of you._

Thor snarled and crushed the card in his hands, tossing violently across the room.

“Was that from the van guy?”

“Yeah,” Thor said through gritted teeth.


	10. Chapter 10

Thor stared at the wrinkled birthday card in the middle of the table, his face contorted into a scowl. Thor had called for the meeting as soon as he had calmed down a little. Everyone showed signs of still being hungover from the night before, making the room more subdued than it should be.

Thor glanced over to where the prospects stood at the back of the room. Roald flinched and looked away when their eyes met, he had his swollen nose bandaged and purple-black bruises along his jaw and in the corners of his eyes. Seeing Loki on the ground with his head wrenched back and Roald looming over him, the fear(whether it had been fake or not) in his eyes, had sent Thor into a rage he hadn't felt since he'd first spotted Loki months ago. Thor curled his fists tighter under the table, satisfaction twisting around in his belly. He would never admit it aloud, especially not to Loki, but he kind of enjoyed the awe-filled look Loki had given him after he'd put Roald on the ground. Realizing that Loki had gotten drunk and put himself in danger on purpose had only killed that enjoyment a little.

“He could be bluffing,” Sif suggested, her voice soft. “He didn't say anything specific about what he saw.”

“He's trying to get us riled up,” Hogun added.

Odin gave a slow nod of his head. “We need to end this before he escalates, but we need to tread carefully,” he said, giving a pointed look at Thor. Thor sighed, forcing himself to relax.

“We are going to to sweep this town from end to end,” Odin continued, voice calm but full of authority, “I don't want a single alley or abandoned building ignored – I want to catch this guy off guard. And when you do catch him, don't let him go.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

\---

Thor sat on his bike in the parking lot beside Heimdall, who pulled one last drag off his cigarette before tossing the butt to the ground and grinding it under his boot.

“Who are we taking with us?” Thor asked as Hogun and Sif peeled out of the lot. He was itching to move.

“Roald,” Heimdall answered. He chuckled at the glare that formed on Thor's face.

“I think he learned his lesson, so try to play nice. We have a long goddamn day ahead of us.”

Thor huffed, shifting on the seat of his bike and crossing his arms. “Well, he better hurry the fuck up.”

Roald showed up a minute later with a few others, looking skittish as he mounted his own bike, a dented white roadster smudged with dirt, and puttered over to them. He stayed on the other side of Heimdall.

“Where are we heading?” Heimdall asked.

Thor rolled his shoulders, sitting up. “Sif and Fandral are starting on Silent Crow Rd. so I figured we'd start on the highway and work in until we meet in the middle. There's a few abandoned farms out there we should take a look at first.”

Heimdall nodded slowly. “Sounds good.”

They both shot a look to Roald. “Yeah, good.”

Heimdall started his motorcycle, the rumble rattling inside Thor's chest. Thor inhaled deeply, the smell of fresh air and gasoline calming him somewhat.

“Lets get this party started then.”

\---

Thor came home at two in the morning to find Loki on the couch, flicking through the channels in the dark.

“Hey... Couldn't sleep?”

Loki's shoulder twitched. “Kinda.”

Thor yawned as he slipped off his jacket and hung it up, toeing off his boots next. “Coming to bed with me?”

“Sure.” Loki turned the tv off, plunging the room in darkness and they made their way in to the bedroom. Thor stripped off his jeans and shirt while Loki crawled into bed, humming softly when Thor slid in beside him. He laid on his belly, head turned towards Loki, who was tracing circles on Thor's shoulder with a fingertip.

Thor had begun dozing off when he heard Loki whisper, “why won't you fuck me?”

Thor's eyes blinked wide open at the softly spoken question. “ _What?_ ”

Loki's finger didn't stop tracing circles, his shadowy eyes flicking up at Thor's face. “We both want it, right?”

“Loki, you're seventeen,” Thor said with a breathless laugh, knocking Loki's hand away. He rolled to his side and sat up to turn on the lamp.

Loki sat up on his elbow, chin resting in his hand, and shrugged. “So?”

“First of all, it's _illegal_ -”

Loki smirked at him and Thor added, “I have my limits.”

“The other guys didn't care,” Loki protested, smirking still.

Thor sighed, shutting his eyes tightly and pressing his fingertips against them. “ _You're a teenager_.”

“So _what!?_ ” Loki snapped back, “teenagers have sex.”

Thor clenched his jaw, his voice going tight. “They do. They fool around with _each other_ in their bedrooms and in the backseats of their cars. They don't let grown men fuck them for twenty bucks and a ride to the next bus stop.”

Loki reeled back, blinking rapidly up at Thor before rolling out of bed and stomping out of the room. Thor fell back with a groan, lying there for a couple minutes before getting up and following Loki. He found him standing in the middle of the backyard, arms wound tightly around himself as he stared at the ground.

“So it's because I've slept with other guys for _money_ ,” Loki said as Thor walked up behind him, his voice wobbling slightly.

“ _No,_ ” Thor exhaled and hugged Loki to his chest, pressing his cheek to the back of Loki's head. The shaved ends of his hair felt soft against his face. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then what the fuck _did_ you mean?” Loki hissed, fingers clawing into the skin of his arms.

Thor pulled back and turned Loki around to face him, his hands kneading gently into Loki's narrow shoulders as he tried put his feelings into the right words. Loki watched him as he waited, eyes wet and shining, wringing his hands between them.

“I've met those kinds of guys, Loki. They're sleazy pieces of shit who take advantage of desperate kids-”

Loki opened his mouth to protest and Thor tightened his grip on his shoulders. “Be honest: Would you have slept with _any_ of them if you hadn't absolutely _needed_ to?”

Loki's mouth snapped shut.

Thor continued, easing his grip. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to do those things to stay here with me- I just... don't want to be one of _them_.”

“You aren't,” Loki blurted out, looking at Thor like he was crazy.  “You're so much better than them... You're better than everyone.”

Thor let out a halfhearted laugh, pulling Loki to his chest again and nuzzling his face into Loki's hair. “I'm not too sure about that.”

“You are,” Loki whispered, hugging Thor tightly around his waist.

Thor let out a resigned sigh, giving Loki a tight squeeze before pulling back, his hand moving to gently clasp around Loki's wrist and began to lead him back in the house. “Come on, lets get inside before we're completely eaten up by mosquitoes.”

Loki wriggled his wrist out of Thor's grasp only to grab his hand, weaving their fingers together as they made their way to the bedroom. Loki climbed in to bed as Thor stood at the other side, their conversation making the long-simmering guilt he'd felt about how much he enjoyed sleeping beside Loki nearly overwhelming.

“I should probably sleep on the couch, actually.”

Loki sat up, brow knotted up in worry. “Why?”

“We shouldn't have been sleeping in the same bed in the first place and it's-”

“But I like it.”

“ _I do too_ , and that's why it's such a bad idea.”

Loki looked away with a sniff, dragging his hand over his pillow, smoothing out the wrinkles on the pillowcase. Thor sighed, grabbing one of his pillows and quickly walking out before his resolve crumbled. He shut the door behind himself with soft click. He dragged himself through the inky darkness of the living room to flop on to the couch, his limbs heavy and chest aching. The ache sharpened as he heard a muffled sob from the bedroom.

He never would have thought trying to be a decent person could make him feel like such a fucking _asshole_.

\---

Thor stared mindlessly at the barred up windows of a pawn shop as he sat in the parking lot of _Pat's Diner_. Sif and Tyr were inside the weathered building, asking questions to see if they've noticed anyone new or suspicious hanging around this part of town. He felt like shit.

When he'd gone to check on Loki earlier that morning he'd found the bedroom door locked. Loki didn't respond until Thor had gotten annoyed and snapped at him about needing to get dressed. Loki continued to ignore him after opening the door, acting like Thor wasn't even there for most of the morning.

Maybe that should've made Thor feel better, somehow. Instead, it just left him feeling a little heartbroken and headache-y.

Thor's phone rang in his pocket, forcing him out of his gloomy thoughts. He rubbed his eyes roughly under his sunglasses as he answered his phone. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Steve said on the other end of the line, “so, that van you told me a bout a while ago. What did you say it looked like?”

“Dark blue, tinted windows, kinda old. What is it?”

“Well, it's just that I'm answering a weird call and I think you might be interested at taking a look at this van I got parked in the middle of this goddamn cornfield.”

Thor sat up on the seat of his bike. “Where you at?”

“Along highway 47, at the farm with the 'hell is real' sign in front of it,” Steve said, the sound of wind whistling through the phone's receiver.

“I'll be there in a few minutes.” He shot a message to Sif and Tyr before speeding off.

He drove down the highway until he spotted the sign and Steve's cruiser parked on the shoulder. The owner of the farm stood along the edge of the field, the creases on his face deepening as Thor pulled up.

“The hell you doing here?” the farmer asked, voice just as craggy as his face. “Didn't ask any'a you assholes to come sniffin around.”

Thor gave the man a polite smile and a nod of his head. “Good morning to you too.”

“Fuck off,” the man grumbled.

Thor laughed quietly to himself, walking in to the field where the knee-high corn stalks had been smashed down into a wide path. And there it was.

The van sat there silently. Just as ominous as it had always been. Steve had his face pressed to the window on the passenger's side door, hands cupped around his face and arms fanned out wide so the short sleeves of his navy uniform pulled even tighter around his shoulders.

Thor kicked at the rusted bumper as he came up to it, startling his friend.

“ _Jesus,_ ” Steve hissed as he jumped back, clutching his chest with one hand.

“Sorry,” Thor said with a chuckle.

“Is this it?”

Thor sighed, walking around the van once, tapping his knuckles along. “I think this is it.”

“Well, it's creepy as fuck... or maybe it's just the hell sign,” Steve said, jerking his thumb back towards the decrepit looking farmhouse the sign sitting in it's front lawn, it's black paint faded and running down the rest of the white billboard. Hell is real.

“I think it's a little bit of both.”

“You want me to unlock it for you?”

“Yeah, that'd be great.”

Thor investigated a little more as Steve walked back to his cruiser, pressing his own face to the glass to try and get a look inside. Nothing seemed too suspicious, just a few food wrappers here and there, maybe there was a receipt or two they could possibly use...

Thor was still unsettled by it, getting the feeling of eyes on him. He scratched a phantom itch on the back of his neck and looked around. There was nothing but corn and blue sky all around him, the next farmhouse far down the road. Steve jogged back up to him, slim jim in hand.

“I think I'll do it,” Thor said. He held out his hand and Steve slapped it into his palm. Thor slipped the metal bar between the tinted glass and peeling weather strip. Glancing over at his friend, he felt more worry creep up his spine. “You wanna step back a bit?”

Steve gave him a look but stepped back. “Aw man. You're not gonna have me tell your mom if you get blown up, are you?”

Thor laughed and waggled the bar around, his other hand on the door handle. “If I'm not mistaken, you sound afraid of my mom.”

“I'm ninety percent sure she can rip my balls off, and I just don't wanna give her an opportunity and find out.”

Thor shook his head and pulled up, the lock clicking. Thor pulled the slim jim from the window and hesitated for a moment, shoulders tensing.

The door opened with a click. Thor pulled it open cautiously, not knowing what exactly this guy's skills or goals were. The tension seemed to grow further even as nothing happened, his hand gripping tight on the door as he peeked inside. Steve came up beside him, looking in over his shoulder.

Thor sighed and climbed inside when there wasn't any explosions. _There was nothing but crap in here_ , he thought as he kicked at food wrappers with the toe of his boot. He climbed in to the back, squinting at something on the dark floor. A shoebox. He grabbed it and opened the back doors of the van for more light.

Steve walked around to the back and sat beside him. “Careful with that thing.”

Thor narrowed his eyes, recognizing the brand on the box and flipped it open. Inside was a pile of glossy photos, pictures taken at Thor's birthday party. He'd gotten shots of everyone in the club, save for his dad who'd stayed at home.

He felt a chill when he came upon pictures of Loki. They were taken much closer than any of the others. One was taken just a few feet away from him – with a shot glass to his lips and his head tipped back, and another with him and Darcy laughing at either side of the bar.

“Hey, isn't he only seventeen?”

Thor gave Steve a flat look.

Steve shook his his head. “Yeah, probably not important right now.”

Thor looked back in the box, digging around and finding another one. Loki was looking into the camera in this one, with a big smile and rosy cheeks.

He had talked to Loki. He'd been near him.

“Thor,” Steve said, voice stern and grip firm on his arm.

Thor took a deep breath, dropping the photos back into the box and shutting it.

“So, this is definitely the van.”

“ _Yeah_ ,” Thor breathed, nodding his head.

“I gotta make a report and call someone to get it towed.”

“Go ahead, I think this all I'm gonna get out of this.”

Steve nodded and clapped him on the shoulder before standing up, walking back to the road and leaving Thor alone again. Thor took another breath before pulling his phone out of his pocket and calling Odin.

“Well, he wasn't bluffing about being at the party. And I don't think we're gonna be looking for a van anymore.”


	11. Chapter 11

Loki marched into the bedroom, shutting and locking the door, as soon as he heard the faint rumble of Thor's motorcycle coming down the street. It was only early in the afternoon and while that did make Loki curious about why Thor home was so early, he was still pissed about last night.

He lay down on the bed and waited for the telltale clomp of his boots. They came moments after the the engine cut off, and headed right to the bedroom.

Thor jiggled the doorknob, letting out a frustrated growl. That was satisfying.

“ _Open the goddamn door_ ,” Thor barked, voice muffled.

Loki lay there silently, staring at the ceiling, hands rested on his chest.

Thor banged on the door loud enough to make Loki flinch. “ _Now_ , Loki.”

Loki scowled, but got up anyways, taking his time to get to the door and open it. His dark look matched the one on Thor's.

Then, Thor sighed, expression falling as he sagged against the threshold. “Look, I know you hate me right now-”

Loki clenched his hands as he fought back the urge to protest that.

“-But do you remember who took this picture of you?” Thor finished, pulling a photo from a pocket of his jacket and holding it up. Loki blinked at the picture of his own face and looked back to Thor.

“Found the van this morning and it had a box of pictures taken at the party in it. You were the only one he got this close too.”

Loki looked back to the picture, eyebrows furrowing. “I don't remember.”

Thor sighed again, “can you _try_ to.”

Loki snatched the picture out of Thor's hand and walked back to the bed, sitting down and looking down at it. Thor sat down beside him, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his spread thighs.

“Can you remember _anything_ about him? Maybe something about him that looked out of place?”

Loki said flatly, “the place was filled with guys wearing leather in ninety degree weather and strippers doing body shots off each other. _Everyone_ looked out of place.”

Thor grumbled, “how about his face? Did he give you a name? _Something_.”

Loki stared at the picture for a few minutes, his mind blank. “I... I don't _know_.”

Thor's head dropped down with a huff. Loki suddenly felt small and useless, his simmering anger cooling off.

“Sorry,” he said, sounding meek in his own ears.

“It's okay,” Thor said softly, “I didn't really expect you to remember.” He sat up and pulled the picture out of Loki's hands, looking down at it. Loki watched as Thor's thumb traced the glossy photo along his jawline, wanting to reach over and pull Thor's hand over so he could do that to his actual face.

“I hate that he got so close to you.”

Loki wasn't sure what to say to that, so he stayed quiet. He watched Thor's face, a few lines creased his forehead and his eyes going distant as he got lost in his thoughts.

“I don't hate you,” Loki said a few minutes later, just to break the silence.

Thor looked over at him, a soft smile curving his lips. He reached over, clasping the back of Loki's neck, and pulled Loki to his side. Loki practically melted against Thor, wrapping his arms around his waist and tucking his face into the crook of Thor's neck. He inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of sweat and leather, and suppressed a groan.

“Glad to hear that,” he said as he gave Loki a hard squeeze before releasing him. Loki pulled back reluctantly. He curled his hands in his lap and watched as Thor tossed the photo on to the nightstand before standing up.

“You have to go again?”

“Yeah,” Thor said, “I'll probably be back late again, but mom should be over here in a bit.”

“Okay,” Loki replied, nearly purring when Thor raked a hand through his hair. His fingers grazed Loki's jaw as his hand dropped away, an ache for more climbing up Loki's chest. There was an long moment of silence as Thor stood there, feet seemingly glued to the floor, before he stepped away without another word.

\---

Loki flipped on to his belly with an annoyed huff, the bed feeling cold and empty without Thor in it with him. He lay there and listened to the faint sound of the tv in the living room for a few minutes .

Pushing himself up on to his elbow, he turned the bedside lamp on, blinking rapidly as his eyes adjusted. His eyes fell on to the photo of himself as it glinted in the yellow light. He picked it up. He had to remember something. Loki sighed, the hand with the picture in it flopping off the side of the bed as he collapsed back down.

He remembered drinking with Darcy, vaguely. A few people had come up to talk to him and some woman had come up and squashed her breasts against him at some point – he remembered that.

He lifted his hand to look at the photo again, flipping it around to look a the brand printed in light gray on the back.

He shot up.

Tossing the photo aside, he climbed out of bed and stumbled out in to the living room where Thor was slouched on the couch. He blinked at Loki in surprise as he stood in the doorway.

“I think I remember him.”

“Yeah?” Thor sat up.

Loki nodded and sat on the couch beside him. “He came up and asked me for my name and if he could take a picture. I remembered thinking it was kinda weird that he had a disposable camera, but I said sure. He kinda mumbled something else as he took it and then just... walked away.”

“What did he look like?”

Loki looked away from Thor, biting his lip, feeling himself deflate before he even spoke. “He was wearing sunglasses and had his hoodie pulled up, so I couldn't really see much.” God, _none_ of this was fucking helpful.

Thor reached out and gently grasped his chin, forcing him to look back. “That's fine. Do you maybe remember how tall he was at least?”

“He was a little taller than me I think.”

Thor gave him a reassuring smile, his face taking on a blue tinge in the light of the TV, and squeezed Loki's shoulder. “ _Good_. That's better than nothing.”

Loki gave Thor a flickering smile back, his shoulders sagging. Thankfully, Thor pulled him into a tight hug, his hand sliding soothingly up and down Loki's spine. Loki relaxed against him, letting his eyes slip closed as an infomercial played softly. He sat up when he remembered something else, the image of his face suddenly clear in his mind.

“He had a scar.”

Thor's eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

“I think he had a scar on his cheek.”

“What'd it look like?”

“It was a big line,” Loki said, drawing an invisible diagonal line with his fingertip from his cheekbone to his jaw.

Thor nodded, smiling a bit more broadly. “That's great, Loki. Thank you,” Thor said, hugging Loki close again.

\---

Loki sat up and looked out the window as soon as he heard the rumbling of two engines, couch squeaking under him.

“They must've decided to take a break,” Frigga murmured, flipping another page in her book as she sat in the tan recliner set a few feet away.

Loki rested his chin on the back of the couch, ignoring the book in his hand to watch Thor and Odin pull into the long driveway, a cloud of dust from the gravel kicking up from the tires. He looked back down at the book as soon when they had parked, his eyes scanning over the words without actually registering. Loki gave up and closed the book as they stepped inside. Both of them looked grim.

“No luck?” Frigga asked with a sympathetic look, her voice soft.

Odin shot a look at Loki that made him want to cower. He said nothing as he stomped off down the narrow hall that lead to his office.

Thor glared at the back of Odin's head, his jaw clenched. “ _No_ ,” he answered gruffly after the door to Odin's office slammed shut.

Frigga shifted in her seat and hummed quietly, tapping her fingers on the book in her lap.

Thor sighed, his shoulders slumping, saying to Loki, “we should probably head off.”

Loki nodded and shut his book. Frigga stood and went to Thor as he got up to put his back on the shelf.

“Is everything all right?” she whispered, tucking a lock of hair that escaped his ponytail behind his ear and brushing invisible dirt from Thor's shoulder. “Did you guys have a fight?”

“You know how we get,” Thor said, giving her a reassuring smile. “It's fine.”

Frigga's smile was tight as Loki walked up.

The grin Thor forced on to his face didn't quite reach his eyes. “Wanna go get lunch?”

Loki gave a small shrug of his shoulders, the sudden tension in the house making him itch.

“You two be safe,” Frigga said, her smile turning more genuine.

“We will,” Thor said, giving her a quick kiss on the temple.

Frigga relaxed a little, patting them both on the arm. “I'll see you two tomorrow then.”

They both nodded and made their way out the door, not before Thor snagged the helmet off the coat hooks and handed it to Loki. The day was hot and muggy, the sun burning hot in the cloudless sky and Loki began to sweat as soon as they had stepped outside.

Loki looked down at the helmet, the glare from the sun making his eyes sting. “Was it about me?”

“Huh?”

“The fight,” Loki said, looking back up at Thor. “Was about me?”

Thor sighed heavily, draping one of his arms over Loki's shoulders as they came up to his bike. “You don't need to worry about it, okay?”

Loki frowned. “Okay.”

Thor smiled and clapped Loki's shoulder before climbing on. “Good, now let's get lunch. I'm fucking starving.”

\---

 _This place had their AC cranked way too high_ , Loki thought with a shiver. He swung his hips from side to side, the retro looking chrome stool sliding silently under him. The chatter and clinking from the other costumers almost completely blocked the music that played from a couple of speakers tucked high in to the corners of the restaurant. It sounded a bit twangy though, so Loki guessed it must be country music. Thor sat beside him, taking another sip of coffee before pulling out his wallet to pay for the food. They had stacked their empty plates and utensils between them and a waitress, a young woman with her hair pulled into a tight bun and stained polo, scooped them up as she whizzed past them.

Loki gazed at the license plates and other random knick-knacks that lined the walls of the diner they had lunch at, looking over his shoulder to glance out the large windows to see clusters of people walking past and cars driving slowly down the tight road. Free milkshakes for children under twelve was painted on the glass in blue and yellow. Thor's bike was parked along the curb in front, the helmet perched on the seat.

“We really need to get groceries,” Thor mumbled. “But I don't want to have to go all the way back home and get my truck just to drive back to town.”

Loki looked back at Thor and shrugged. “Lets just order pizza tonight.”

Thor chuckled. “We just _had_ pizza the other night.”

Loki scoffed. “So?”

“I'm _thirty_ ,” Thor deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at Loki. “I can't just have pizza for dinner every night like _some of us_.” Thor accentuated his point with a hard flick to Loki's flat belly.

Loki laughed and swatted Thor's arm before they fell back into silence. Thor cleared his throat a minute later and pushed his half full cup of coffee away as Loki continued to reading the license plates.

Loki jolted when Thor laid his hand on Loki's waist. He looked at Thor in confusion, which only deepened at the tight expression he wore.

“When I say three,” he started to say without even looking at Loki, his voice so low Loki was tempted to lean in to hear him better. “I need you to get on floor. _Don't_ hesitate and don't get up until I tell you. Understand?” He gave Loki's waist a small squeeze a second later when he didn't respond.

Loki felt his body go tight with fear, only able to give Thor a small nod to let him know he understood. Thor breathed slowly, letting go of Loki's waist and pocketing his wallet on the wrong side.

“ _One-_ ”

Loki swallowed, his fingers gripping the edge of the counter.

“ _Two-_ ”

Thor cocked his gun, the _click_ cutting through Loki's mind like a knife.

“ _Three_.”

Loki dropped to the floor while Thor stood and began firing. Loki clapped his hands over his ears, the deafening shots making his ears ring. His legs curled up to his chest automatically, compacting his body as much as he could manage. People screamed, broken glass crunching under their feet as they scrambled for somewhere to hide. Loki clamped his eyes shut, his heart thumping so hard he felt his pulse in his toes. He could barely hear other people's distressed cries over his shuddering breaths.

The gunshots had stopped almost as soon as they had began, but minutes had passed before Loki could manage to pry open his eyes again, and then all he could do was gape at the eerie stillness of the ruined diner. A few people ran, few were on their phones, looking past him.

Loki twisted around. His heart stopped when he saw Thor on the ground.

“ _Thor!?_ ” His limbs felt weak, his whole body trembling as he crawled to Thor.

“Loki,” Thor grunted, grabbing his arm as soon as he was close enough. “Are you all right?”

Loki's attention was caught on the bloodstain growing on his white t-shirt. His skin went cold at the sight. “You're bleeding,” he rasped, pulling the corner of Thor's leather jacket away to reveal a small, round gunshot wound towards the side of his stomach.

Thor panted, “I'm okay.” He squeezed Loki's arm. “It's okay.”

Loki's throat went tight, his vision blurring. Thor squeezed his arm again. “It's okay.”

Loki shook his head, a small sob escaping his throat. He dimly registered the sirens approaching as his gaze fell back to the gunshot. Thor reached up higher, his hand landing heavily on the nape of Loki's neck, pulling his focus upwards.

“When the cops get here find Steve. He'll take care of you. Okay?”

“Okay,” he whispered.

Thor gave him a feeble smile and let his hand fall from Loki's neck. “I think I might pass out.”

“ _Don't!_ ” Loki's voice cracked, his hands shaking as he held them over Thor's chest. He had no idea what to do. He looked around just in time to see an ambulance pull up, a couple of cop cars following soon after. He looked back down to Thor, his face contorted in pain, before the paramedics came rushing in and he was forced to back away.

People had begun to collect around the diner to see what had happened, the cops doing their best to keep people out of the way. In the chaos of it Loki managed to slip out of the diner, scanning the growing crowd until he spotted a familiar face stepping from a cruiser.

Steve stood in the open door of his car as he watched Thor get carted to the ambulance, his lips pulled in to a tight line.

“Steve?” Loki said shakily as he walked up to the other side of the car, weaving through people and wringing his hands.

Steve's head whipped around at the sound of his name, his eyes going a little wide at the sight of him. They both looked back to the ambulance as the doors were slammed shut.  It was speeding off moments later, sirens blaring. Loki felt himself on the verge of tears again, his hands curling into fists.

“You're bleeding,” Steve said softly as he walked around his cruiser. Loki looked down and saw a few cuts on his palms, the sting of them finally registering.  
Steve came up beside him and pried Loki's hands the rest of the way open.

“Come here, I got a first aid kit,” he said, guiding Loki towards the cruiser with a hand between his shoulders. He sat Loki in the front passenger seat, digging the kit from the glove compartment and crouching down before he began dabbing at the cuts with a wipe.

“What happened?”

Loki exhaled shakily. “He just told me to get on the floor and...” Loki trailed off with a gesture towards the restaurant.

Steve nodded.

Loki winced as he picked a small shard of glass from his palm. “Do you... will he be okay?”

Steve looked back up at him and gave him a lopsided smile. “I think so. He's pretty damn tough.”

Loki took a deep breath and nodded, wanting to believe that. Steve pulled out a roll of gauze and began wrapping Loki's hands with it, letting out a huff of laughter.  “One of the first times I arrested Thor was after he crashed his motorcycle.” He glanced up at Loki again, smiling a little wider. “He was doing ninety in this quiet little neighborhood at like two in the morning – he was _completely_ shitfaced by the way – and he had apparently drove _head-on_ in to a parked car.”

Steve laughed, shaking his head. “He went flying in to some poor old woman's rose bushes but somehow managed to come out of the whole thing with only a few cuts and bruises. His _motorcycle_ on the other hand...”

He gave Loki's knee a pat after he finished wrapping Loki's. “He's tough, Loki. I'd like to think it would take more than a few bullets to bring him down.”

Loki just nodded again, feeling only slightly comforted by the story. He could hardly wrap his mind around Thor doing something like that. He liked going fast and weaving around cars sometimes, but he couldn't imagine him doing something quite that reckless. He pulled his legs in to the car after Steve had put the kit back in to the glove compartment. Thor wouldn't even let Loki have a _beer_. Steve shut the door and walked back around to the driver's side, climbing in. He seemed to hesitate before pulling his cellphone out from a compartment in the console.

“You don't happen to know his mom's phone number, do you?”


	12. Chapter 12

Everything felt _fuzzy_. The light above his head was blinding and seemed to amplify the static in his head. The incident at the diner came back to him all at once, making him want to jump out of bed, but his body felt too heavy, like his limbs had been filled with lead.

Then, his mother leaned in to view. Smiling down at him softly, she pushed his hair back, the familiar gesture making him relax. “You gave us a bit of scare.”

“Sorry,” Thor croaked back with a smile, rubbing his bleary eyes. He squinted as he looked around the beige room. “Where's Loki?”

“Just outside, I wanted to see if you were up for visitors before he came in.”

“Is he okay?”

“I don't the poor thing slept a wink last night and I think he might've made himself sick. But other than that he seems all right.”

Thor frowned. “How's everyone else been?”

“They're out for blood. It would probably help if they knew who to look for.”

Thor's frowned deepened, the twist of nerves in his belly making him nauseous.

Fingers brushing through Thor's hair again, she asked, “do you remember what he looked like, darling?”

Thor squinted, working through the fog in his head to remember some of the details. “He's got a scar,” he said, mainly remembering that detail because of Loki. “A big slash on his cheek. And I think he's in a old white caddy now, it was something big at least.”

Frigga nodded. “Good. You want me to send Loki in now?”

Thor nodded and Frigga patted his arm before walking out.

The door swung back open before it had even completely shut. Loki looked at him with wide eye surrounded by dark circles, his lip bitten pink and bandaged palms.

Thor smiled and opened his arms. Loki walked up wordlessly, his chin trembling, and practically fell against Thor's chest. He tucked his head against Thor's neck and began to quietly sob as Thor wrapped his arms around him, mindful of the IV in his arm. He ran one hand up and down Loki's back, while the other moved to cup the back of his head. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Thor shushing Loki as he shook in his arms.

Thor took a deep breath as he pushed Loki back, taking his face in his hands and swiping the wetness from Loki's cheeks with his thumbs. He smirked and said, “hey, _I_ was the one who got shot yesterday. How come _you_ look so miserable.”

Loki let out a watery laugh and replied, “you haven't looked in a mirror yet, have you?”

Thor laughed and pulled Loki back to his chest, closing his eyes and hugging him tight. He peeled one eye open when he heard the door click, giving a small smile to his mother as she poked her head inside.

Loki pulled away eventually, letting out a stuttering breath and wiping his cheeks roughly as he sat carefully on the edge of the bed. “How long are you going to be here for?”

Thor ran the backs of his fingers along Loki's forearm, feeling the downy hairs that covered his skin. “A few more days, probably. Just in case something gets infected.”

Loki nodded.

“You'll be okay without me?”

Loki nodded again with a little sniff.

“ _Good_.”

Frigga walked in again. Thor gave Loki's arm a small shake, smiling as he asked “hey you wanna go get me some water?”

Loki nodded again and stood, grabbing the plastic pitcher from the wheeled table at the end of the bed on his way out.

His mother strolled up to the bed again, filling the spot Loki just left. “Just called Sif. She and some of the guys should be swinging by in a bit.”

“And dad?”

“I'm sure he'll be by eventually.”

Looking away from her, he played with the corner of his wristband. “Mom, you'll make sure dad doesn't-”

Frigga laid a hand over his, forcing his gaze back to her. “Oh sweetheart, I'm sure you're father wouldn't _do_ anything to Loki.”

Thor's mouth twitched. “ _Please_ , mom.”

“How bad was your fight?” Frigga asked with a worried look.

“Pretty bad,” Thor replied with a weak laugh. “Can you just please just... keep them apart until I'm out of here?”

The corner of Frigga's mouth twitched in to another soft, reassuring smile, her hand squeezing his gently. “Of course, darling.”

\- - -

“Didn't bring me any flowers?” Thor said with a pout as Steve stepped inside.

“ _Well_ , I had some roses, but then thought I might come off a bit strong,” Steve replied with a shrug.

Thor laughed and Steve sunk in to the chair beside the bed. He was out of uniform, the sleeves of his button up rolled to the elbow. He crossed his arms over his chest and asked. “how you feeling?”

Thor shrugged a shoulder. “They got me on morphine so I'm feeling _pretty good_ , actually.”

Steve laughed again, trailing off with a sigh. “This could be bad, you know.”

“Getting shot is _bad?_ No shit.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “You got into a shootout in the middle of a packed restaurant, _Thor_.”

Thor sobered at that. “Did anyone else get hurt?”

“Luckily, no.”

Thor exhaled and nodded. “Good.”

“What happened? Loki didn't seem to see anything.”

Thor shot Steve a look that made his friend put his hands up defensively. “Don't _worry_ I didn't interrogate him.”

Thor relaxed. “I noticed the car he was in pass by the restaurant a few times – I guess he was checking to make sure we were in there – and then he pulled up along the curb. I saw him. Then I saw him picking something up. I... needed to shoot first.”

Steve sighed, sliding his hand over his thighs. “You might actually get into trouble for this.”

Thor shrugged. “I'm not too worried about it.”

“How are you _not_ worried about it?”

Thor raised an eyebrow at him. “You really don't know how many people can be paid to ignore things in this town? We've been friends for how long?”

Steve slumped in the chair and dragged a hand down his face, “I need to move to different town.”

“But then whose gonna be here to arrest me? You _know_ you're the only man I let put me in handcuffs.”

Steve shook his head and chuckled. “It's been so long since you flirted with me I almost forgot what it was like.”

“I knew you missed it,” he said with a lascivious wink.

\- - -

Thor had his arm draped around Loki's shoulders as he helped Thor hobble in to his house. His mother lead the way, opening the front door and making sure the path was clear to the bed before pulling the blankets back. Thor groaned as he sunk down, all the movement exhausting him and making pain lance up his side. He gritted his teeth as he pulled his legs up on to the mattress and adjusted his position, flopping back on the the pillows with a heavy sigh while Loki laid the comforter over him. The air inside was fresh and everything, as far as Thor could tell, looked spotless, even better than how he'd left it five days ago.

“Did you clean my house?” He asked, lifting his head back up to look at his mother.

“It needed it. I also bought you groceries.”

Thor grunted and let his head fall back.

“I should be heading back home now. You call me if you need anything,” she said the last words to Loki, who gave her a nod of his head and a small smile.

She smiled back, giving his arm a squeeze before looking back to Thor. “And you _better_ rest like Dr. Foster said.”

Thor groaned again.

Looking to Loki once more she added, “feel free to call me if he gets ornery, too.”

“I will.”

Frigga laughed and gave Loki's arm a final squeeze before leaving. Thor sighed as he listened to his mother's SUV pull away and leave them in total silence, his head lolling on the pillow to look at Loki. Loki stood in the middle of the room with his arms hugged around himself. Feeling fuzzy from the medication and tired, he opened his arms out, beckoning Loki to him. Loki moved slowly, walking up to the bed before toeing off his shoes and carefully climbing in next to Thor. Thor hummed as Loki settled against his side, his head pillowed on Thor's shoulder.

Pressing his nose into Loki's hair, he said softly, “I missed you.”

Loki, in return, nuzzled Thor's chest. “You were always asleep when we came to visit,” he mumbled.

All Thor could manage to reply with was a “ _mmph_ ” his eyelids already drooping heavily.

It was dusk when he woke up, the whole house dark and silent save for to soft sound of Loki's breathing. He smiled when he glanced down and saw that Loki had moved a little and had pressed his face into the crook of Thor's armpit, his hand curling loosely into Thor's t-shirt. Warmth flooded his chest at the sight and he sighed, relaxing deeper in to the bed. He didn't have the heart to wake him up despite the fact that the painkillers had begun to wear off and the pain in his side was starting to get a bit annoying. Instead he distracted himself by playing with Loki's hair, the silky black strands slipping through his fingertips.

Thor guessed another half-hour had passed before Loki finally stirred. Thor smiled when he lifted his head and turned his bleary gaze on to him.

“ _Morning,_ ” he said brightly, swirling his fingertips in the shaved hair on the back of Loki's head. “Does my deodorant smell nice?”

Loki glanced back down to Thor's armpit, clearing his throat and looking a bit embarrassed.

Thor's smile broadened at that. “I thought about moving you, but you looked just so comfortable.”

Loki's mouth twitched in to a shy smile. “How long have you been awake?”  
Thor shrugged his shoulder. “Just a little while.”

“Do you need anything?”

Thor shrugged again, ignoring the throbbing in his side. He just... didn't want Loki to move yet. “Nah. I'm good right now.”

Loki nodded, letting his head sink back down to Thor's shoulder.

“What'd you do while I was in the hospital?” Thor asked, tracing invisible circles on the back of Loki's hand.

“Just followed your mom around a lot. Helped her clean and stuff.”

Thor's legs were beginning to ache from the lack of movement. So, carefully, he moved to lay on his undamaged side, his face twisting in pain before he could control it. He exhaled with a long groan as he finally got comfortable.

“Are you okay? Do you need me to get you a painkiller or something?”

Thor smiled as he reached out and placed his hand on Loki's waist before he could jump out of bed. “I'm fine.”

Loki relaxed, readjusting his own position a little, so their eyes met across the pillow they were sharing. Thor kept his hand on Loki's waist, giving him a light squeeze.

“I missed you.”

Loki laughed. “You already told me.”

Thor smirked. “Well, I missed you a _lot_.”

Loki scooted closer, looking away from Thor's face as he whispered, “I missed you a lot, too.”

Thor draped his arm over Loki's waist, lifting his head to press his cheek to Loki's, moving his head in little motions.

“ _You're scratchy_ ,” Loki breathed, his fingers dragging up and down Thor's chest.

“Sorry,” Thor whispered, shifting his head a little to kiss Loki's cheek before pulling back.

Loki let out a breath, his fingers going still.

Thor moved his hand, dragging it up from Loki's waist, past his arm to caress his neck, to cup Loki's cheek. Sliding his thumb over Loki's cheekbone he whispered, “I really want to kiss you right now.”

Loki inhaled sharply and looked back up at Thor's face, his eyes wide and hopeful.

Thor closed the bit of space left between them, pressing their mouths together. A tiny moan escaped Loki's throat, his hands tightening their grip on Thor's shirt. Thor's heart began to beat faster, his pulse thrumming in his head. As he deepened the kiss he slid his hand back, cupping the back of Loki's head and tilting it just a little. He dipped his his tongue tentatively into Loki's mouth, flicking lightly over the edges of his teeth before venturing further, the both of them groaning when Loki's eagerly met his.

Thor reluctantly pulled back when he was breathless and the pain was too much to ignore anymore. Pressing his hand where his bandage lay hidden under his shirt seemed to pull Loki from his daze.

“Are you okay?” Thor didn't miss the worry in Loki's voice and forced a smile on to his face.

“Yeah, just sore.”

Loki was out of the bed, and the room, a second later. He heard the paper bag crinkling as Loki took the pills out it and then he dashed past the door towards the kitchen. He was back moments later with a glass of water and the pill bottle. Thor pulled himself up slowly, his face contorted in pain until he could lean on to the wall, sagging against it. Loki handed Thor the water first, opening the pill bottle and pouring one of the painkillers into Thor's hand. Thor washed it down with a big gulp of cold water, and then guzzling down the rest of the glass before handing it back to Loki.

Loki sat down on the edge of the bed, facing Thor. “Are you hungry? I can make you... a can of soup. That's all I can make.” Loki's lip curled slightly, the expression made far too endearing with his slightly pinker lips.

Thor let out a lazy laugh, reaching out to touch Loki's knee. “Soup sounds perfect.”

Loki smiled and stood again, setting the pills on the nightstand and taking the glass out with him. He watched through the doorway as Loki walked up to the stereo, turning it on and setting it on to the radio station Thor liked. Thor smiled, smiled even broader when Loki glanced back at him over his shoulder before walking out of sight.

Thor's head lolled against the wall and eyes drifted closed, a dreamy smile plastered on his face as music and the soft clatter of pans drifted through the house. He didn't feel as guilty as he thought he would.


	13. Chapter 13

Loki laughed at the muffled curse from the other side of the bedroom door. He tapped on it with his knuckle. “Can I help you now?”

Thor huffed. “ _Fine_.”

Loki continued to laugh as he walked in and saw Thor sprawled on the bed in nothing but his boxers and a pair of sweats that pooled around his ankles. His legs hung off the edge of the bed. His chest heaving, his wet hair spread out across the comforter and his wound uncovered. Loki ignored that for now and crouched down to grab the waist band of the sweatpants. He tugged them up Thor's legs slowly, letting the soft, dark blond hairs that covered them skim across his skin.

“Someone's taking his time.”

“I've gotta be careful with you right now. You're so _delicate_ ,” Loki teased, standing and bending forward as he dragged the pants up Thor's thighs. Thor pushed his hips up as Loki came closer to them, and Loki kept his face just a little too close, licking his lips as he contemplated just diving forward and mouthing Thor's cock through his boxers.

“You're lucky you're such a cute nurse, otherwise I'd never deal with your attitude,” Thor said wryly, folding his arms behind his head.

“ _My_ attitude?” Loki said with a bark of laughter as he stood. He grabbed the box of bandages that were sitting on the nightstand and flopped down next to Thor.

“Which one of us had to call someone's _mom_ because they were trying to sneak out and get on their motorcycle after Hogun came by?”

Thor grunted with a slight pout on his face and Loki grinned as he pulled out a gauze pad and the tape roll from the box. His wound was healing nicely, according to Jane, the curved gash sewn up neatly and already looking a lot less horrifying two weeks later. Loki covered it carefully, so the stitches wouldn't snag and it stayed clean. He dragged his fingertips around the bandage a few times to make sure the tape stuck – and to feel Thor's abs.  

Thor sighed, “I just hate not being able to go out and look for this asshole.”

Loki kept his eyes down, feeling whiny even as the words slipped out. “You hate it more than being here with me?”

Thor's brows furrowed, reaching up to cup the back of Loki's neck. “It's not like that, Loki. I can't just pretend that he's not out there... He could've ended up shooting you instead.”

Loki exhaled, leaning over Thor so their faces were just inches apart. “Well, you can go and kill him or whatever you plan on doing after you can walk for more than ten minutes without getting winded.”

Thor whined, kicking his foot weakly.

“ _No whining_ ,” Loki whispered, leaning closer and brushing the tip of his nose over Thor's before pressing their lips together.

Thor whined again, his hand pulling Loki down to deepen the kiss.

Loki broke away to crawl up farther on to the bed and lay on his back, Thor following a bit more slowly. He dragged himself on top of Loki, wedging on of his thicker thighs between Loki's and settling his weight on him with a labored breath.

“Don't I crush you like this?” Thor asked, planting his forearms at either side of his head so his face hovered just above Loki's.

“I like it,” he said breathlessly. He skimmed his fingers along Thor's sides, enjoying the the shiver Thor gave in response and the goosebumps that popped up over his warm skin. Thor pressed forward, kissing Loki hard and making him shiver.

Kissing Thor was just how he imagined it would be – like he was being swallowed up by Thor's presence. Thor pulled back an inch or so, taking a few deep breaths before diving in for more, his hands moving to touch Loki's face while Loki dragged his hands up and down Thor's back. He rolled off with a slight wince a few minutes later, chest rising and falling in quick succession.

“ _Fuck_ , I hate how fast I get tired,” Thor grumbled.

Loki rolled to his side, placing a hand on Thor's chest and nuzzling his shoulder. “Don't worry, it's totally normal. Happens to all guys.”

Thor laughed even as he swatted Loki's ass in response, his hand staying there. “ _Smartass_.”

Loki twisted his hip towards Thor, so Thor had a better grip on it. He gave it a firm squeeze that made Loki hum.

“I really miss being able to ride though. I wanna just go somewhere with you,” Thor grumbled a minute later.

Loki lifted his head, perching his chin on his fist. With a smirk he said, “so you can make out with me somewhere besides the bed or couch?”

Thor let out a small snort of laughter. “Well, yeah. But mainly just to... I don't know... be with you.”

“The painkillers must be setting in,” Loki said, rubbing little circles on to Thor's chest.

Thor furrowed his eyebrows. “ _I mean it_ – I like being with you.”

“I like being with you too.”

Loki leaned forward and nuzzled Thor's shoulder again, a warmth seeping into his chest as he inhaled the fresh scent of Thor's soap. “I love you,” he mumbled against Thor's skin.

Thor smiled, his hand moving to Loki's and weaving their fingers together. “I love you too.”

Loki let his head flop down to the bed, unable to force the big smile off his even as his cheeks started to ache from it.

“You know what we should do when all this bullshit is over?” Thor blurted out a few minutes later. “We should go on a road trip. Just me and you going wherever we want. It'll be great.”

Loki moved his thumb, stroking it over Thor's as the smile on his face felt like it became even bigger. “I like the sound of that.”

\- - -

Loki finished his last slice of pizza and reached for the remote beside the open box on the coffee table. Thor was fast asleep, his head pillowed on Loki's belly and arms hugged tightly around his hips. One of Loki's legs hung off the couch while the other was pinned to the back to accommodate Thor's broad chest, his back pressed to one armrest while Thor had his feet propped up on the other. Thor squeezed as Loki leaned as far as he could manage, finally snagging the remote with his middle finger and pulling it close enough to grab it.

He sighed as he settled back and began flicking through the channels. Thor nosed at Loki's thin t-shirt for a moment, grunting softly and giving Loki another squeeze before falling back in to a deeper sleep. Loki combed his fingers through his messy hair as he flicked through the channels, settling on a nature documentary and letting the remote drop to the floor.

It was about twenty minutes later when he heard a car pull in to the driveway. Craning his neck, he peeked through the slates of the blinds and saw Frigga stepping out of her SUV.

“ _Shit_.” Loki frantically jostled Thor's shoulder, only managing to rouse Thor enough to have him give another crushing hug to Loki's hips and an more aggressive nuzzle to Loki's stomach.

She knocked on the door once before letting herself in while Loki tried, and failed, to squirm from Thor's grip. Her eyebrows rose when she saw them. Loki cringed, feeling his skin go hot from embarrassment as he shook Thor's shoulder with more force.

“ _Thor_ , wake up. Your mom's here.” He reached down and pinched Thor's tender side. “ _Wake. Up_.”

Thor's head finally snapped up with a grunt, the side of his face red and eyes puffy as he looked up at Loki in confusion.

“Your mom is here,” Loki repeated, pointedly looking over to where she stood just a few feet in the house. Thor blinked a few times and looked over his shoulder. That seemed to shake out some of his sluggishness. He peeled himself off Loki as fast as he could manage, settling back on to the other end of the couch with a pained groan and a hand to his side.

“I was gonna steal Loki for a couple hours if that wouldn't be much trouble?” she asked Thor, eyebrow raised as she looked between the two of them.

Thor nodded quickly, hardly able to glance at her, his hands bunching in to his sweats. Loki practically jumped from the couch, hardly able to look at her either as he mumbled about getting changed and walked into the bedroom and shut the door.

He shucked off his own sweatpants and t-shirt as soon as the door shut, slipping on a fresh one and picking up a pair of skinny jeans that were left in a pile on the floor. After wiggling those on he darted into the bathroom, wetting his fingers and raking them through his hair to try and fix it. He cringed again at the beard burn on his face, concentrated mostly around his mouth but with a few pink patches on his neck and jaw.

Muttering curses under his breath, he splashed some cool water on to his face, drying off quickly and slipping on socks and shoes before walking back out.  
Thor was fully awake now, his cheeks bright pink while Frigga stood by with a hard to read look on her face.

“I'm ready,” Loki said, sounding meek.

“Alright.” She glanced over at Thor, who had his hand his hand half-covering his eyes, and asked, “you'll be okay on your own for a little while?”

“ _Yes ma’am,_ ” Thor replied, sounding just as meek as Loki.

Frigga laughed softly as she turned and walked out the door, Loki following at her heels. The first few minutes of the ride were excruciatingly quiet, nothing but the soft whoosh of the AC to fill the silence while Loki tried to keep his mouth covered.

“What happened to your neck there?” she asked, pointing at the side of her own neck.

Loki cleared his throat and answered, “razor burn. I need to get a new pack.”

Frigga laughed, shaking her head as she made a smooth turn in to a road Loki had never been down before. “Sweetheart, I've been married to Odin for almost forty years, I know what beard burn looks like.”

Loki shrunk down in to his seat. Frigga laughed softly.

She sighed a minute later and said, “you know, I was fifteen when I met Odin. He was twenty-four.”

Loki looked over at her, his eyes wide.

“I started hearing about him during the summer before I started highschool. He’d just come back to town earlier that year and gotten the club started. It was _all_ anyone could talk about, but I hadn’t really been paying much attention. Not until I finally saw Odin.” She glanced over at Loki, a dreamy smile forming her face as she looked back to the road and continued, “I was out with my friends when him and the rest of the crew at the time rolled in to the diner we were at. My friends were all freaking out thinking we were going to get killed – while I sat there thinking about how he was the most handsome man I'd ever laid my eyes on. My friends tried to convince me to not talk to him, but I was not going to be swayed. I remember how I could just feel everyone in the diner staring at me as I walked up to him.”

“I tapped him on the shoulder, he looked at me, and I _froze_.” She laughed, “I just _stood there_ and stared at him. It was awful.”

“He turned back to his food eventually but for some reason I decided I was not going to leave without saying _something_ to him, so I sat down on the bar stool next to his. He looked back at me, and said “ _what the hell do you want?_ ” _  
_

_“That_ time I managed to blurt out my name.”

Loki watched the side of her face and tried to imagine her and Odin so young. “What'd he say?”

Frigga let out another huff of laughter. “He looked me over and asked me how old I was. When I told him I was fifteen he laughed and told me to give him a call in a few years and went back to his burger.”

Loki arched an eyebrow at her. “So?”

“I went back to my friends, but I was not going to just give up. After that I listened for any gossip that I could about him and the club. I snuck out and went to every party or bar I heard he might be at, followed _anything_ that sounded like a motorcycle. And I _did_ manage to track him down sometimes.”

Loki burst out in laughter, rubbing his forehead. “What did he do? ...And what about your parents?”

“My parents were _livid_ when they finally caught on, tried to ground me and all that. But at that point I'd gotten really good at slipping past them, and I didn't really care what they thought anymore – I wanted Odin, and nothing was going to keep me from getting him.”

“And Odin, well, he kept ignoring me for the most part – though I did start to grow on him after a while.”

“When did you guys get together, then?”

Her dreamy smile grew broader. “One night, when I was seventeen, I managed to sneak into the bar him and rest of the guys were in – It was a shithole about three towns west of here, where bikers from all over would hang out and absolutely not where _any_ teenage girl should ever be – and as I was looking for him some other guys from a different club spotted me. They cornered me, and just as I was thinking I had really fucked up this time, there he was.”

“A whole fight started and I got the hell out of there and went to wait by his bike. He came out a little while later, all beaten up and bloody and screaming at me for being so stupid... And I kissed him.”

“ _Wow_ ,” Loki chuckled.

“Yep... Everything happened pretty fast after that and we got married a few days after I turned eighteen, much to my parents eternal disapproval, and here we are now.”

“So...”

“ _So,_ ” Frigga started, “if you guys expected me disapprove of... _that_. I don't. It'd make me a bit of hypocrite if I did, I think.”

She added, “ _And_ knowing Thor, and how much he cares about you, and how much you care about him, I don't see the harm in it.”

Loki nodded, relaxing back in to the passenger seat.

They drove for a while longer, pulling into a parking lot in front of a gun range when the sky was nearly black. “What are we here for?” Loki asked, squinting up at the lit up sign through the windshield.

Frigga unlatched her seat belt and pulled her purse in to her lap, searching through it as she spoke. “Remember when I showed you the places Thor stashes his guns?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I'm gonna make sure you know how to use them.”

Loki blinked at her.

\- - -

Frigga held his hands in the right position, her voice gentle as she instructed him.

“Okay, whenever you're ready,” she said before placing the headphones she had him wear back in place and stepped back

Loki took a deep breath, staring at the target for a few long moments. The image of the guy, his creepy scar and smile, popping up in Loki's head, anger suddenly rising up his throat like bile as he remembered seeing Thor bleeding on the floor of the diner.

He exhaled and pulled the trigger, emptying the handgun into the flimsy target, the headphones muffling the blast.

His hands shook as he lowered gun, placing it carefully back on to the table in front of him. The target was littered with holes, some around the person-shaped outline, but most managed to be inside of it.

Frigga stepped up to him again and laid a hand in his shoulder. “Good job. Want to try a shotgun next?”

\- - -

Thor was passed out on the couch when he got back, one foot hanging off of it and an arm thrown across his face. Loki toed off his shoes at the door and walked around, closing the blinds, tossing the empty pizza box in to the garbage, and checking around the house before making his way back to Thor. He crouched down in front of him and shook him gently until he finally woke up.

“Mm, you're back,” Thor croaked.

“Yep.” Loki leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss. “How you feeling?”

“Just tired.” Thor stretched his arms above his head, yawning loudly before sagging back in to the couch. “What'd you and mom do?”

Loki shrugged, not sure if he should tell Thor. “Just went out for a bit.”

Thor grunted, seeming to take that for an answer. “Did she, uh, say anything about...”

Loki snorted, laying his head on Thor's chest. “She's not mad or anything... She told me about how she met your dad.”

Thor smiled and soft laugh bubbled up his throat. “Did she?”

Loki nodded. “Wanna go to bed?”

“Yeah.”

Loki helped Thor off the couch, shuffling along with him to the bedroom. Thor kicked off his sweatpants before climbing in, watching as Loki striped down to his briefs with a smile still on his face. Loki turned off the light and slid under the covers, squirming up to Thor's good side and pillowing his head on Thor's chest as he draped his arm around Loki's shoulders.

“Love you,” Thor murmured, pressing a light kiss on Loki's head.

“Love you,” Loki replied, tilting his head to press one on Thor's skin.


	14. Chapter 14

Thor groaned as he shut the lawn mower off. He was sore and drenched in sweat, the sun beating down on his shirtless back from high in the sky. Loki watched him from the front stoop with a disapproving look, his skin even more stark and pale looking against his black t-shirt and dark jeans. He took huge gulps of the soupy air and held his side as he dragged the lawn mower back in to the garage, Loki following close behind.

“Are you satisfied now?” Loki asked cuttingly, “or do you want to pull some weeds and _totally_ kill yourself?”

Thor rolled his eyes as he spun around to face him. “I'm not _killing myself_. Jane said it's fine for me to start moving around more, remember? And looking outside _was_ killing me, the lawn looked that terrible.”

Loki huffed. “Will you just come inside now?”

A smirk pulled at the corner of Thor's mouth. “I will for a kiss.”

Loki rolled his eyes that time, stepping up to Thor and grabbing his face with both hands and kissing him hard. Their lips parted with a loud smack and Loki wiped his hands on his jeans as he stepped back. Smirking back at Thor he said, “now get the fuck inside.”

“Yes sir.”

Loki walked ahead of him as Thor shut the garage door, glancing around the street and finding nothing out of the ordinary. It didn't bring him as much comfort as it should have.

“I think I need a shower,” he said as he kicked the front door shut behind himself. Loki let out a snort of laughter and Thor stepped up behind him, hugging him from behind and resting his chin on his shoulder. “But I feel kinda _weak_ now. I think I need someone in there with me. You know, to make sure I don't fall in the tub.”

“Well, now I guess do need another shower since there's this sweaty guy rubbing himself all over me.”

Thor hummed and rubbed his face against Loki's neck, making him squirm in Thor's arms. Thor guided them to the bathroom, kissing and stripping Loki of his shirt along the way. Loki pushed him back to turn on the water, and Thor took the moment to palm his ass as he bent over. 

Loki snickered as he stood, letting Thor crowd him against the sink. With his arm wrapped around Loki, Thor slid his hand up his back to cradle the back of his head. Loki gazed at him with heavy lidded eyes, his mouth curling in to a small smile that Thor returned. 

Head dipping forward to press their mouths together, Thor wiggled his other hand between their bodies to unfasten Loki's jeans. He slipped it through the opened fly, palming Loki's thickening cock through the tight little pair of black briefs he wore. Loki moaned in to his mouth and bucked in to Thor's palm, his hands dragging down Thor's slick chest. Thor gave Loki's cock a parting squeeze, drawing another lovely moan from Loki's throat, before pulling away to push the tight jeans and underwear down Loki's slim hips. Loki helped shove them the rest of the way down his legs, kicking them off violently before rushing to the fly of Thor's shorts, practically ripping them open and pushing them down. Thor was really, really glad he decided to forgo his boxers, kicking the shorts away just as violently while Loki took his cock in his soft hands. 

Thor exhaled slowly and pressed his forehead to Loki's. He watched as Loki experimentally but eagerly tugged on his cock, his pale hands looking almost delicate wrapped around the stiffening shaft. Loki's thumb skimmed the crown, the shiny black polish on his nails glinting in the the florescent light.

Then, Loki suddenly let go, a frustrated growl rising up Thor's throat at the sudden departure. 

“We're wasting water,” Loki said teasingly, a beautiful and infuriating smirk on his face as he darted under Thor's arm and stepped in to the tub, disappearing behind the curtain. Thor was behind him a second later, his chest pressed to Loki's back, his hands on Loki's hips and lips on his neck as warm water beat down on his head. 

Loki sighed, reaching back to tangle a hand in to Thor's hair. He pushed his hips back, so Thor's cock was pressed right into the cleft of his ass. Thor groaned and thrust against him, one arm wrapping around Loki's waist to keep him close while the other reached for Loki's cock, relishing in the whimper it pulled from Loki. Thor rolled his hips in a sloppy rhythm, his cock sliding easily over the wet skin. He could just imagine looking down between their bodies and watching his cock sink into Loki's lithe body, his pert little ass cheeks spread open to accommodate his thick cock. He panted on to Loki's skin as the image flooded his mind, his balls tightening as he ground his hips in to Loki harder.

“Don't come yet,” Loki gasped, pushing at Thor's hip. “Not yet.”

Thor forced himself back, gritting his teeth and grabbing the lip where the shower met the wall. Loki turned towards him and grabbed the washcloth hanging from a ring next to a soap shelf in the tub, wetting it before squirting on a generous dollop of body wash and lathering it up with a pleased look on his flushed face. Loki dragged the washcloth down Thor's chest first, then his belly – softer now from the lack of exercise – and back up. He was careful around the thick red scar, skimming over it with the lightest touch before moving on. He gave his arms a few sweeps before stepping a bit closer, their cocks knocking together, and running the soapy rag along Thor's back. Thor cupped the back of his head again, their open mouths meeting with hot, panting breaths and tongue. Loki's hands stilled, the washcloth falling to the tub with a wet slap.

Loki pulled back with a shaky breath, licking his lips and rinsing his hands with a smile before grabbing the shampoo and pouring some in to his palm. Thor smiled back, bending his head forward. Thor moaned as Loki pressed his fingertips into his scalp, massaging and combing his fingers through Thor's hair.

“You're washing my hair everyday from now on,” Thor huffed, grasping Loki's hip with one of his hands.

Loki laughed softly and slid his fingertips across his entire head with just enough pressure to make Thor's skin tingle.

“ _Goddamn,_ ” Thor moaned.

“Rinse,” Loki whispered, pulling his hands away. Thor grunted and walked him backwards until Loki was pressed against the wall and he was fully under the stream. He tipped his head back to let the shampoo rinse down his back while Loki ran his hands down Thor's chest.

“All clean,” he said when he pulled his head back up. Loki's breaths were coming in short pants, his cock twitching against Thor's hip.

“Lets get out then.”

They dried off just enough to not be dripping, shuffling back in to the bedroom with their hands all over each other. Loki pushed Thor down on to the bed, making him sit on the edge of it before dropping to his knees. Thor couldn't hold back a groan, spreading his thighs to let him get closer. His breathing became more heavy as Loki grasped his cock and stroked it back to it's previous hardness

“You don't know how _long_ I've been waiting to do this,” Loki said, voice silky. Thor shuddered as Loki delicately licked off the precome beading at the slit with the tip of his tongue, pressing a soft kiss to the head of his cock right after. He took his time, wetting Thor's cock from base to tip with broad sweeps of his pink tongue, while he used his hand to gently fondle Thor's sack. Thor's thighs were shaking by the time Loki wrapped his lips around his teeth and descended on his cock.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Thor hissed, throwing his head back, hips rocking at the sensation. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd had his cock sucked, and now he was thinking he was crazy for ever forgoing it.

Loki pressed his head down just a little too far, gagging and yanking his head back to cough. With tears in his eyes he choked out, “ _sorry_.”

Thor smiled, wiping away one of the tears that escaped past his eyelashes with the pad of his thumb. “Don't be. You're perfect.”

Loki let out another small cough, blinking up at Thor a few times before exhaling and wrapping his lips around Thor's cock again. With his hand wrapped around the part of his cock he couldn't fit in his mouth, he began bobbing his head, his cheeks hollowing as he sucked. Thor's legs trembled and his fingers curled in to fists in the covers. He forced his hips to keep still despite his instincts screaming for him to shove his cock deeper into the wet heat surrounding it. He babbled praises and chanted Loki's name under his breath, making Loki purr and send another violent wave of pleasure through Thor's body, his fingers and toes almost feeling numb from it. He forced his eyes open when he realized he had them clamped shut, looking down and groaning at the sight of Loki's dark head moving between his thighs. Loki groaned too, pausing for a second to pry Thor's hands from the covers and place them on his head.

“Fuck,” Thor moaned. He knotted one hand in to the longer part of Loki's hair, while the other simply rubbed along the nape of his neck. He didn't push down though, stomach twisting at the thought of choking Loki. Loki seemed to take a minute to figure that out, however. He finally resumed moving, with more force than before, both his hands laying on Thor's thighs as he forced himself farther down Thor's shaft. 

Thor pulled him off the second time he gagged. Loki coughed and blinked up at him, a few more tears rolling down his cheeks that Thor was quick to wipe away. 

“Babe, you don't have to choke yourself.”

“Don't you like it?” Loki croaked, letting out another small cough.

“Not really,” Thor said with a small, breathless laugh.

Loki just stared at him for a moment. “Oh.”

Thor raked his hand through Loki's hair, his wet lashes fluttering at the touch. He took a deep breath before grasping the base of Thor's cock again and diving back down. He kept his hand there, bobbing his head more shallowly and working the underside of his cock with his tongue.

“That feels so good,” Thor panted, cradling Loki's head in his hands. Loki moaned and hummed around his cock, the slick sounds of his wet lips sliding over the taut skin of his shaft making it throb against Loki's tongue. Thor's heart was hammering in his chest, the relentless sucking and slurping bringing him to the edge fast. He slid his hands down Loki's neck and shoulders, feeling the lean muscles working under pale skin.

“ _Fuck_ , Loki. Fuckfuck _fuck_ -” He grit his teeth around a final groan, pressing his blunt fingertips in to Loki's skin. His cock pulsed on Loki's tongue while his hips gave stunted rolls. Loki swallowed around his cock head, pulling a shuddering gasp from Thor and another roll of his hips. He collapsed back as Loki gave one final suck before letting Thor's cock fall out of his mouth. He climbed up on top of Thor, settling on Thor's relaxed thighs and planting his hands on Thor's hips.

“Good?”

Thor answered with a long moan. Loki grinned and leaned forward, their noses bumping as Loki tilted his head and pressed his mouth to Thor's. Thor moaned again at the taste of himself on Loki's tongue as it flicked against his own, taking Loki's face in his hands to keep him there. They stayed like that for a few long minutes, the sound of their lips smacking in the quiet while he came down from the high of his orgasm.

“ _Mm_ , I forgot my manners,” Thor said when he realized Loki was shaking above him, his neglected cock leaking and twitching between them. He flipped them over and had Loki lay back on the pillows before settling between his thighs. 

Thor hummed and dragged his thumb up the underside of Loki's cock. Loki gasped, his hips rocking towards the touch while his eyes fluttered. Then, Thor grasped his length and leaned forward, his breath puffing over Loki's skin as he said, “it's been a while since I've done this.”

Loki shuddered. Thor let out a small laugh and started by licking away the precome that coated the head of Loki's cock. He really enjoyed the whimper he got from that. He decided to not waste anymore time and wrapped his lips around it and sunk down as far as he could, sucking messily on Loki's cock. Loki cried out, his back arching off the bed and fingers and toes curling.

Thor pulled off when he got an idea. Loki's head whipped up from the loss, looking dazedly at Thor as he wet his thumb generously with spit. Thor grinned at him as he pressed his thumb to his hole, swirling it around the tight ring of muscle. Loki threw his head back with a moan, hips bucking in to his hand. Thor kept rubbing his thumb there and went back to sucking his cock, the dual sensations pulling raspy curses and chants from Loki.

“Feel good?” Thor asked when he popped off briefly. Loki whined and squirmed in reply.

Thor laughed and began sucking again, the muscles of his neck burning as he kept bobbing his head. When Loki's cries became more frequent, the tremble of his thighs more pronounced he pressed his thumb harder, just enough for Loki to really feel it. It wrenched the most beautiful, pitiful sound from Loki's throat. A flood of salty come suddenly spilled over his tongue, some escaping out the corner of his lips. He swallowed down the rest, working Loki through his orgasm until he pushed Thor's head away with a whine.

They were both panting as Thor crawled up to lay beside him, pulling Loki close so they laid chest to chest. Thor tugged Loki's leg up so it was draped over his hip, dragging his hand up the the outside of his thigh and swerving over his hip to run up and down his spine. Loki hummed and nuzzled the base of Thor's throat. Thor shut his eyes and nuzzled Loki's hair, his body sagging against Loki's.

They both jerked awake at the sound of the front door shutting, Sif's voice calling out, “Thor?”

They couldn't manage to untangle from each other fast enough, Sif's eyes going wide at the sight of them as she stood at the bedroom doorway before she ducked back.

Loki ran in to the bathroom with a sheet wrapped around his hips while Thor pulled on the nearest pair of sweatpants. He raked a hand through his tangled, damp hair as he walked out in to the living room. Sif was cringing as hard as he was, kneading her thin fingers against her closed eyes.

“I tried calling but you weren't picking up.”

“Sorry,” Thor said, cringing even harder.

Sif pulled her hands away from her face, taking a breath and obviously trying to move past it. “So, um, I was just coming by to see how you were doing.”

Thor had to hold back a laugh. “Good- I'm real good.”

Sif nodded. “Oh yeah, and Fandral is planning another party for you on friday.”

Thor groaned in annoyance, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“He tells me it's not going to be big. Just a cookout with everyone from the club and a few extras. Volstagg is threatening to bring his kids so that should keep Fandral from hiring any strippers.”

Thor sighed in relief, putting his head in his hand. “Thank _god_.”

They were quiet for a few minutes. Sif's eyes darted towards the bedroom as they stood their. Thor yawned, rubbing his eyes roughly as he turned and began walking to the dining room. “Found anything yet?”

“Of course not,” Sif said, voice cracking with aggravation, “this guy is too good at covering his tracks.”

Thor exhaled hard through his nose. “I can't wait to get my hands on that fucker. He's gonna wish he was a better shot.”

There was a long pause. “I also kinda wanted to talk about,” Sif started, something in her tone making him tense. “...Are you sure Loki is-”

“ _What?_ ” Thor snapped, coming to an abrupt stop in the entryway to the kitchen, his eyes hard on his friend.

Sif didn't even flinch, her voice going a touch softer as she continued, “are you _sure_ you can trust Loki?”

Thor sighed angrily, walking further in to the kitchen, Sif following close behind. 

“Is _that_ what my dad's been talking about while I've been gone?”

“He's worried about the club-”

“ _Boy_ , I would have never guessed,” Thor scoffed.

“And _you_ ,” Sif finished, voice clipped.

Thor leaned against the fridge, running a hand down his face. He took a deep breath, looking back up at Sif where she leaned against the counter at the other side of the room, arms crossed over her chest. “Look, I know we're all fucking worked up about this guy, but Loki's got nothing to do with him-”

“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice back to a placid tone that made Thor itch for some reason.

“ _Yes_ ,” Thor hissed. “You trust me, right?”

Sif's shoulders shifted, looking uncomfortable. “Of course.”

“Then can you just fucking _trust me?_ I _know_ Loki-”

Sif gave him a hard look. “Do you?”

“ _Yes!_ ”

“You told me that he'd run from his last foster home and was going from town to town before you found him. Do you have any idea who he was with then? Or even before that?”

Thor let out another sigh, but some of the anger had seeped out of him and was replaced by vague unease.

“I'm not saying you should interrogate him or anything, just make sure you know as much about him as he does about you, at least.” Sif shrugged. “I just want you to be safe, Thor.”

“ _I know_ ,” Thor said, his own shoulders sagging.

There's was a few beats of silence and then Sif blurted out, “and you got fucking come hanging off on your mouth.”

“ _Goddammit_ ,” Thor said through a huff of laughter, pushing off the fridge and going to the sink to scrub at his face. 

“Do you have _any_ idea how hard it was to have a serious conversation with you with that there the whole fucking time?”

Thor grumbled, drying his face off with the hand towel hanging on the oven handle.

When he looked back to Sif she was giving him another look. “ _Don't_.”

“Is that why you're so protective over him?”

“Does it matter?” he asked roughly, flinging his arms out in a broad gesture.

“I guess not. It just... worries me a little.”

Thor huffed, twisting the towel in his fists.

Sif asked quietly, “Just don't let your feelings for him blind you, okay?”

He grit out, “I won't.”

Sif let out a defeated sigh. “I better leave before I _really_ piss you off.”

Thor rolled his eyes, clipping Sif on the arm as she walked past him. 

“Pick up your goddamn phone next time,” she called out as she walked out the front door.

He walked back to the bedroom and tapped a knuckle on the bathroom door. “Coast is clear.”

Loki popped out a second later, sheet, still around his hips. “Does everyone just walk in your house?”

“No, just a few special people,” Thor chuckled. They both tumbled back in to bed, the late afternoon sun bleeding through the blinds as they wrapped themselves around one another. 

“Your dad is telling your friends not to trust me,” Loki whispered, his head pillowed on Thor's chest. “The walls are paper thin, by the way.”

Thor sighed, smoothing down Loki's hair. “He's... I don't know. He just doesn't give a damn about anything but the club sometimes. I don't know.”

“You know I don't have anything to do with this guy, right?” Loki tipped his head back to look at Thor, his eyes scanning over Thor's face.

Thor gave him a soft smile. “I know.”

Loki let out a breath, giving a small smile back.

Thor ran his fingers over Loki's cheek, his thumb skimming Loki's cheekbone. 

Loki's eyes fluttered shut, his lips – still pink and swollen from earlier – parted slightly. 

“What happened to get you put in foster care?” Thor asked.

Loki opened his eyes and looked at Thor as though he was deciding if he should tell Thor, his eyes bouncing from Thor's face to other parts of the room. He blinked and sat up, looking like he was moving through water. He turned his body to face Thor and crossed his long legs, the sheet tangling around his hips. 

He shrugged and said with an oddly light voice, “my mom left and didn't come back.”

Thor's furrowed his eyebrows, sitting up and resting against the wall. “She just... left?”

Loki shrugged again. “Yeah.”

Loki bit his lip as Thor stared at him. 

“She wasn't even really around much before that, as far as I can remember,” he continued, “I spent a lot of weekends with people, who I guess must have been friends of hers, babysitting me – if you can actually call it that.” 

Thor shook his head. “What about your dad?” 

“I don't think she even knew his name,” Loki let out with a small acidic laugh.

Thor's heart felt heavy. He'd had more than a few experiences with people like that, and imaging Loki, smaller and even younger, with his mother not around and left with relative strangers made it crack.

Loki lifted his leg, folding it to his chest to rest his chin on his knee. “She left on friday, like she usually did, and then monday morning rolled around and she still wasn't there. I wasn't really worried about it or anything, I just went to school like I always did.”

Thor watched as Loki stared off, his body gently rocking from side to side. 

“I made it week before a teacher noticed. I probably could've gone longer if I was better at forging my mom's signature.”

“A _week?_ ” Thor said, unable to keep the disbelief from his voice.

Loki's eyes flicked back to him. He swallowed audibly.

“How old were you?”

“Twelve.”

Thor couldn't help but look at him in shock. Loki gave him a weak smile, his shoulders rounding as he hugged his leg. He didn't know what to say, so he held his hand out to Loki. Loki took it, letting Thor pull him in to his lap and tucking his face in to the crook of Thor's neck. Thor wrapped his arms around him, squeezing him too tight, probably. 

“I'm not really sad about it anymore, if that makes you feel any better,” Loki whispered, running his hand over Thor's shoulder.

“It doesn't,” he said just as quietly.

Loki exhaled against Thor's collarbone. Thor closed his eyes, resting his head on Loki's and just listening to sound of Loki's breathing, his heart gently thumping against Thor's chest.


	15. Chapter 15

Loki had to kick his feet to release some of the excitement he felt at hearing the roar of Thor's motorcycle coming down the street. He bit his lip and sat up on his knees in bed, twisting the blinds open to watch Thor pull in to the driveway. He hopped off the bike with a hilarious lack of grace and tromped towards the front door. Thor came stomping in to the bedroom a half minute later, his hair and clothing a complete mess but the smile on his face brilliant. 

He pulled a bottle of lube from his pocket and tossed it to Loki, tearing his clothes off like they were burning him. When he was finally naked again he climbed in to bed, cupping Loki's cheeks as he pressed their mouths together like they'd been separated for years, rather than the ten minutes it took for Thor to go to the nearest drugstore. Loki's hands trembled, the plastic bottle clutched in one of his sweaty palms while the other tangled in Thor's hair, his heart stuttering in excitement. Thor's hands dragged over his back and sides, coming to a stop on Loki's ass and squeezing it as he pulled Loki against him. Loki rolled his hips, grinding his stiffening cock against Thor's belly. 

Thor pressed their foreheads together, his hands sliding up and spreading over the small of Loki's back. “Hey,” he whispered.

“ _Hey_ ,” Loki repeated, his cheeks aching from trying to tame the smile on his face. Thor smiled as his hand slid up to cup the back of his neck, tipping Loki backwards until his skin met the sheets. Loki let out a giddy laugh as Thor hovered above him, his thighs spread wide to accommodate him. It turned in to a moan as Thor dragged a heavy hand over Loki's chest, calloused fingers catching on his oversensitive nipples. He squirmed as Thor played with them again, after already teasing them for a good thirty minutes before having to make the run for lube. His blond hair fell all around his face as he licked his lips, the strands sparkling in the bright mid-morning light. 

“You're so gorgeous,” Thor said breathlessly, his hands running down Loki's belly.

Loki squirmed more, his cheeks going warm from the praise and the continued teasing from Thor's roughened fingertips. “You're not so bad looking either.”

Thor laughed as he leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to Loki's lips. “I love you. So, _so_ much.”

Loki let out a sigh against his mouth, grabbing a hunk of Thor's hair with his free hand to keep him in place as he slid their mouths together, pinching Thor's bottom lip between his own.

Thor pried the lube from Loki's hand, sitting back on his heels to rip the plastic seal off with his teeth. Loki grabbed the backs of his thighs, pulling his knees towards his chest. Thor paused with the cap pressed between his lips, a thick groan rising from his chest at the sight. The plastic peeled off with a loud rip a second later, pieces tossed aside as Thor twisted the cap off to get the other seal off.

“ _Goddammit_ ,” he muttered as he violently pulled the little plastic tab.

Loki laughed, watching as Thor sloppily poured some lube on his fingers from the uncapped bottle before setting both on the nightstand. Loki's heartbeat quickened. Thor leaned over him again, pressing another soft kiss to Loki's lips before he said, “tell me if you need me to slow down, or anything.”

Loki nodded, his mind already swirling at the feeling of slick fingertips rubbing against his sensitive skin. He groaned as Thor pressed the tip of a finger in, the muscle giving easily to the intruding digit. The rest slid in one small thrust at a time, making Loki whine.

“You want more?” Thor asked in a low, rough voice that made Loki shiver.

He rolled his hips and keened out a “yes,” shuddering when Thor pulled his finger out only to press two in a half-second later. The stretch burned deliciously, making him pull his legs higher as Thor slowly pressed further inside. Thor was panting softly above him, his pupils blown out as he stared down at where his fingers sunk in to Loki. 

“Go faster,” Loki breathed.

Thor eyes flickered up to his face. “You sure?”

Loki gave a shaky smile, nodding his head.

Thor pressed in the rest of the way with one smooth movement, the burn slightly more intense but so, so good. Loki panted as Thor began thrusting his fingers in and out, pausing every so often to spread and twist them. He curled his fingers, making Loki yelp as he dragged them over Loki's prostate. He stayed there, teasing the spot over and over, until Loki's was shaking and yowling from it.  
Thor stopped with a laugh, pulling his fingers out and letting Loki catch his breath. 

“ _Asshole_ ,” Loki huffed, no heat to the insult. His cock was aching, throbbing against his stomach despite the lack of stimulation.

Thor just winked, taking a moment to pour more lube on to his fingers before pressing three fingers against him. Loki sucked a breath through his teeth, taking hold of his thighs again. Thor pressed forward, watching Loki's face for signs of discomfort, pulling out whenever he noticed his chest had gone still.

Loki growled when he did it the fourth time. “You're taking too fucking long.”

Thor chuckled as he leaned over, nipping and kissing Loki's jaw as he slid two fingers in to Loki in one motion, curling them to tease Loki's prostate some more. Loki keened, his spine going rigid  as his mind was wiped clean, clasping Thor's forearm with both hands to keep him right there. 

“Next time you're searching for porn on my computer, you should look up how I can get you to come from just this,” Thor huffed next to Loki's ear, his facial hair scraping Loki's cheek.

Loki let out a breathless laugh and slapped Thor's shoulder. 

Thor pulled out to press three fingers in to him again, not stopping until he had them sunk in to the second knuckle.  “Good?”

Loki bit his lip and nodded his head, eyes slipping closed as Thor began to press deeper with minute thrusts, turning his wrist to stretch Loki in every direction. Loki's thighs trembled when Thor spread his fingers wide, whimpering at the sting.

“Talk to me, babe. What do you want?”

Loki moaned, his just hanging open for a few seconds before he could manage to find his voice. “I just want your cock- I wanna feel sore when we go to party tonight.”

“ _Fuck_ ,” Thor groaned, punctuating it with a bite to the delicate skin below Loki's ear. He thrust his fingers in harder, filling the air with soft, wet sounds.  
  
“I'm _ready,_ ” Loki whined, pushing Thor's arm away now. “Give me your cock,” he tried, enjoying the stuttered breath that it pulled from Thor. Thor sat up with a hiss, pushing his tangled hair back with his clean hand before reaching for the lube again, pouring out a generous amount of it in to his palm and spreading it over his cock. His lips pulled back in to a snarl as he dragged it over the length a few times, coating every inch of it in it. Loki panted, pulling his knees to his chest as Thor put the lube back and shuffled in to position. His thighs bracketed Loki's hips, the feel of warm skin and firm muscle comforting as he pressed the reddened head of his cock to Loki's hole. Loki inhaled sharply as it pushed past the loosened muscle, holding his breath as the thicker shaft began to sink in.

Thor balanced himself on one hand planted next to Loki's shoulder. “ _Breathe_ ,” he ordered softly. 

Loki let it out in a rush through his slack mouth, his body relaxing as Thor eased in further. Loki moaned, the feeling of being stretched open like this coming back to him, of having someone over him. This was so much better, though. Not having a cold, hard mattress under him, his eyes shut tightly to pretend the grunts were coming from someone different-

Thor went still above him, his voice edged with concern as he said Loki's name.

Loki realized that a few tears had slipped past the corners of his eyes and in to his hairline, his throat thick with the threat of more. “Sorry,” he said, wiping his face roughly. “I'm okay.”

Thor's face softened. He balance himself over Loki on his elbows, wiping away the fresh tears that were still spilling from him with the backs of his fingers, his hips still as he pressed tiny kisses on and around Loki's lips. Loki let go of his thighs to run his hands up and down Thor's back, fingertips skimming down the dip of his spine as Thor whispered “I love you” against his lips again. Thor bent his head and pressed his mouth against Loki's neck as he began to move his hips again, small, careful rolls that made Loki moan to the ceiling. 

Thor lifted his head with a heavy exhale, pressing his thumb on Loki's chin as he kissed Loki deep, their tongues meeting and lips sliding together wetly. Loki gripped Thor's shoulders and squeezed his thighs around Thor's waist, while Thor's spread farther. He pressed his knees deeper in to the mattress as he rolled his hips back, his cock almost sliding out of Loki, and then he shoved in. The air was punched from Loki's lungs as he was filled with Thor's cock, a soft whine rising from Loki's throat as his blunt fingernails dug in to Thor's shoulders. Thor groaned against his lips, repeating the same motions until he built a steady rhythm. It left Loki with nothing but the sweet slide of Thor's cock in and out of him, the heat of the rest his body pressing down on him. He could feel the wetness on his temples as Thor's breath gusted over his face, the sheen of sweat on their skin mixing. 

Thor moaned and grabbed the back of one of Loki's thighs, pushing it higher as he rose up on his other hand and fucked in to him, the constant sounds falling from Loki's mouth now accompanied by the sharp slap of skin. 

“I'm getting close,” Thor breathed, looking down at Loki with dark, heavy lidded eyes. 

Loki mewled, reaching down with both hands to tug at his cock and play with his balls. Thor grunted, slamming down harder. Loki was chanting Thor's name breathlessly, his teeth grinding as his groin tightened, the hand on his cock moving faster. He climaxed as Thor slammed his hips down, his back arching as he choked around Thor's name. Thor made a noise above him, his movements losing their rhythm and turning frantic, his powerful body crushing Loki in to the mattress as he followed moments later.

Thor sunk down on to him carefully, keeping himself braced on his elbows so he could kiss Loki again. Loki shivered as he pulled out, a bit of come leaking out of him with him.

“You're smiling, so that _must_ be good,” Thor said breathlessly, flopping down next to him and pulling Loki to his chest.

Loki laughed, tucking his head against Thor's collarbone to try and hide the delirious look on his face. Thor cupped a hand over the nape of his neck and pressed his nose in to his hair, humming softly in to Loki's scalp.

“I love you,” Loki said, his stomach still doing flips even after already saying the words countless times. Thor hummed again, nuzzling Loki's hair.

\- - -

Loki picked up the knife Frigga had given him, flipping the cold metal in his palm a few times as he wondered if he should bring it. He glanced out the living room window where Thor was waiting for Loki on the bike, his eyes narrowed as he looked up and down the street.

Loki shrugged and tucked the folded blade in to the waistband of his jeans, tugging his t-shirt over the clip as the metal quickly warmed against his skin. He walked out the door, helmet begrudgingly in hand. Thor smiled at him and slipped on his sunglasses to combat the glaringly orange late afternoon sun.

“Do we _have_ to go?” Loki whined as he climbed on behind Thor. 

Thor let out a low rumble of a laugh and patted Loki's thigh. “Just for a few hours, babe. We'll have most of the night to ourselves.”

Loki still gave a petulant huff as he shoved the helmet on to his head.

Loki was zoning out as they drove down an empty two lane street in a sparsely populated neighborhood when he heard the muffled sound of an engine revving from behind them. Twisting his head to look, his heart thudded at the sight of a white car coming up behind them fast. 

“Thor!” he yelped, squeezing his waist hard. Thor whipped his head around just as the car pulled up beside them in the other lane, making a sharp turn in front of them before Thor could manage to speed up.

All at once the world became nothing but the sound of metal grinding on pavement, his body weighing nothing as the world became a blur through the plastic visor.

He slammed to the raised ground that lined either side of the road, rolling in to the ditch as soon as he landed. His choked off gulps for air were hindered by the helmet, panic making his whole body shake as he tried to rip the thing off. He coughed as it finally popped off, his lungs still not quite wanting to fill. He rolled unsteadily on to his hands and knees, his panic surging even more at the sight of Thor on the ground about ten feet farther, his legs laying over the gravel line shoulder while the rest was in the ditch. The bike was tipped on it's side in the road still, just steps from Thor.

“Thor,” he wheezed, crawling through the overgrown grass towards him. He froze at the crunch of gravel. The man with the scar walked down to where Thor lay, crouching down to push at his shoulder and look at him for a moment before he dug Thor's phone from his pocket, sliding it in to his own.

Then, he looked at Loki. An unsettling smirk crossed his face, black sunglasses shielding his eyes. Loki could feel his heart in his throat, his limbs wobbling under his weight. The man walked too fast, grabbing Loki by the throat and dragging him up.

“You're coming with me, too,” he said, his voice rough and his smile too sharp.  
Loki flung his limbs, pounding his fists and knees in to whatever part of the man he could. He froze as the barrel of a gun was pressed to his temple, the hand around his throat squeezing hard enough that stars twinkled in Loki's vision. 

“It'd _really_ fuck up my plans if you made use this now, so if you could just work with me here...”

Loki breathed through his nose and let himself be dragged to the car. The man stopped and let go of Loki's throat. With his gun still aimed at Loki's head, he pulled a couple of zip-ties from his front pocket. Thor groaned behind them, sending another surge of adrenaline through Loki and he automatically turned to the sound. 

The man jabbed his gun into the back of Loki's head and growled, “ _don't_ fucking move.”

Loki twisted away as he tried to manhandle Loki in to the car, hearing Thor call out his name. “ _Thor!_ ”

“Fucker,” the man cursed, tackling Loki to the pavement. Loki cried out as the man pressed his weight to Loki's back, his cheek scrapping on the hot pavement. Thor called his name once more before the man raised the gun, bringing the butt of it down on Loki's temple, the world going black a second later.

\- - - 

Loki came too in the front passenger's seat of the car, the side of his face pressed the vibrating window and hands bound to the door handle. The man was singing along to _Paradise City_. Loki couldn't hold back a groan as the man's grating voice made Loki's head throb.

He paused, grinning around the straw of a big styrofoam he slurped on something before saying, “aw, sleeping beauty's finally awake.”

“ _Fuck you_ ,” Loki spat back, his voice warbling.

The man just laughed at him. “Not a morning person?”

Loki sneered, turning away to look out the window and try to get his barrings. His brows furrowed at the unfamiliar road, nothing but overgrown fields and decrepit houses as far as the eye could see. Fear clutched his chest. He thought of Thor, wondering how hurt he was or if anyone had stopped to help him yet. He squeezed his hands in to fists as a lump formed in his throat. 

He took a few deep breaths through his nose and swallowed, trying to calm himself. He looked back at the man, finally taking a good look at him. He wasn't much bigger than Loki, which was slightly comforting. His arms were covered in navy blue tattoos that seemed to bleed at the edges. His cheekbones were high, the deep scar running down his cheek making the skin on that side ripple. His lips thin and chapped above a narrow jawline. His hair and eyebrows were white-blond, blending in to his pale skin at a glace, and slicked back against his scalp. Loki could imagine it crunching under his fingertip from all the hair gel. 

“Who the hell are you?” he asked when he felt like his voice wouldn't crack, .

The man let out a chittery little laugh. “I thought you'd never ask. I'm Byleistr, and your boyfriend helped kill my family.”

Something in Loki's stomach sank at his overly bright tone. He pushed himself tighter against the door, wanting any space he could get. They drove for a while longer, Byleistr singing along to the crackling songs on the radio while Loki's mind continued to reel from the turn of events.

They eventually pulled in to the parking lot of a long abandoned factory, the pavement full of cracks, grass and weeds growing wild through them.

“ _Home sweet home_ ,” Byleistr said, giving Loki another yellow-stained grin.


	16. Chapter 16

Thor walked the around the room like he was a caged animal. 

“Thor,” Jane said, her voice stern, “you have a concussion. _Sit down_.”

His lips pulled back in to a sneer, but he did as she asked, forcing himself to to sit back down on the bed. A tow truck driver had found him next to his bike, disorientated and clutching Loki's helmet in his shaking hands. He could remember the flash of white as the car pulled out in front of them, then the far off sound of Loki calling to him and a motor starting, the dead silence after.

He felt Jane's hand on his back and realized with a start that he'd begun crying, his vision blurred from tears and stomach rolling. He stood back up, the blood rushing from his head and making him tip sideways.

“He has Loki,” Thor slurred, voice grinding from his throat. He clenched his fist and slammed it in to the mattress with a growl.

“Please don't make me need to call security,” Jane pleaded. Her face was twisted in worry, her hands held up in a defensive stance. “Just sit down.”

Thor snarled, raking his hands through his hair as his head throbbed, his body tensed with rage.

Jane snapped, “goddammit Thor, just sit down!” She tugged on his arm until he relented and sat back on the bed. Suddenly overcome with tiredness, he laid down and curled on his side. The rustling of the sheets was impossibly loud in his ears, making him cringe with even the tiniest movement. He blocked the light from his eyes with one of his hands and let out a small sob that he couldn't hold back. Thor grimaced and pressed his face in to the flat pillow under his head, his stomach clenching as he thought of Loki being alone with that fucking bastard.

He sat up at the sound of heavy footsteps heading to his room, Jane pushing down on his arm in attempt to keep him on the bed. His mother walked through the door first, worry clear on her face as she headed straight for him. Something in him broke at the sight of her, making him grab for her and bury his face in to her shoulder as his throat closed up on him.

His head throbbed as he said, “he took Loki,” choking on the words.

“ _What?_ ” she asked, pulling his head back to look at his face.

Thor noticed the rest of the club standing at the door from the corner of his eye. “He took Loki. He was gone when I came to,” he repeated, fighting the thickness in his throat as he spoke.

Frigga's eyes widened, her hands coming up to cup his cheeks. “Oh _no_.”

Thor hissed through his teeth and stood, ignoring the headrush and pain that came with the movement. “I need to find him. I can't just fucking _sit here-_ ”

Jane came to stand beside his mother, grabbing his arm. “You were just in a crash and you-”

“ _I don't fucking care!_ ” Thor barked back, shaking off her hold and stomping towards the door. Fandral and Hogun were the first to step inside the doorway, giving him looks that were close to pitying as the held him back. His rage surged up even more at that, viciously shoving their hands away and trying to push past them.

“Thor you need to-”

Thor screamed, “I need to find him!” He curled his fist without even thinking, swinging blindly in to the bodies that were just a blur now. Multiple hands grabbed at him, pulling his arms down and dragging him back roughly. He thrashed and shouted at them, kicking as they pushed him back on to the bed. All the movement made bile rise up his throat, his skin getting clammy and hot, blinded by the lights and the sterile white walls of the room. He sagged in defeat, closing his eyes to try to block out the light. The hands cautiously lifted away a minute later. He cracked open his eyes as a shadow came over his face.

“You need to stay right here,” Odin said firmly before leaving his view.

\- - -

Thor woke to his mother stoking his hair. She sat in a chair pulled up beside the bed, the room dark except for the light coming from the hallway through the open door.

“How are you feeling?”

“My head doesn't hurt as much,” Thor said thickly. He glanced back to the door.

“They're looking,” his mother said, as though sensing the question.

“I _hate_ this,” Thor said through a hiccuping sob. “What if he-” Thor couldn't even finish the thought before his throat shut. Frigga shushed him, dragging him closer as she leaned forward to hug Thor to her chest.

“Don't think like that. We're going to get him back and he’s going to be okay.”

Thor's lungs shuddered as he exhaled, his fist curling in to the thin bedding as he stayed still in his mother's arms. He'd begun to doze off when her phone chimed from inside her purse, forcing her to let go of him to answer it. Thor's heart was in his throat as he watched her, fear rising as she gave the screen a bewildered look. She blinked at Thor.

“Honey, where's your phone?”

Thor shot up, taking her phone as his heart pounded wildly in his head, his hands shaking. There was text from his phone with an address he vaguely recognized and a time, just a few hours from now.

Thor stood and paced the length of the room, his breathing coming in harsh pants. His mother took her phone back, brushing her hair from her face as she made a call.

“Did you get a text from Thor's phone?”

Thor stopped, swaying in one place as he bit on his thumbnail, watching Frigga's face while she spoke on the phone. She glanced his way and made her expression carefully blank, something he remembered from when he was a kid, making white hot fear lance up his spine at the sight.

With a quiet “bye” she hung up, swallowing as she looked back at Thor.

“Does dad know where the address goes to?” When she said nothing he stepped closer, his voice low as he asked, “where's the address go to?”

She sighed. “It's the factory where you guys...” She trailed off with a vague gesture of her hand. He didn't even need her to finish. His stomach dropped to his feet, feeling lightheaded.

“It's someone from from Jotunheim.”

His mother's phone chimed again and he watched her open the message, unable to hide her fearful expression right away.

“What is it?” he asked as he took a step closer, his voice cracking slightly.

She stepped back, clutching the phone to her chest. “You don't want to see it,” she said gently.

“What?” His limbs felt weak all of a sudden. He was surprised he was even still standing. “What is it?”

Frigga held her hand out to keep him back. “It's a picture.”

Thor sucked in a breath. “Let me see.”

“I don't think-”

“ _Let me see!_ ” he barked, making his mother flinch. He wilted back in guilt, softly adding, “ _please_.”

Frigga stood there for a few moments before finally relenting, slowly handing the phone to Thor. Thor swallowed audibly and flipped the screen towards himself, falling back on to the bed as soon as he laid his eyes on it. Loki was staring at the camera, face froze in a snarl. No – not at the _camera_ , just past it, at the one taking the picture. He sat in a chair, arms pulled back behind him, in a dimly lit room with rotting walls and a cracked concrete floor.

Another message from his phone popped up. _He smiled prettier last time._

The breath was punched from his chest and his body stiffened as he stared at the picture for who knew how long.

“Thor?” came his mother's voice, snapping him out of the daze he was in.

“I have to get out of here,” he said as he stood back up, voice thick. He tossed the phone to the bed and went to the chair in the corner, where his boots sat on the floor. He was grateful Jane hadn't made him change out of his clothes when he was brought here. “I can't just sit here-”

The phone rang again, making him freeze and watch the phone where it sat on the bed. Frigga picked it up, her shoulders relaxing a little when she flipped it over.

“It's your father,” she said, answering it. She nodded along whatever his father had said, replying with, “alright we'll be there soon. Love you.”

“We're going to the clubhouse,” Frigga said after hanging up. Thor went back to pulling on his boots as she picked up her purse and dropped her phone in to it.

“How's your head?”

Despite his head throbbing, he forced himself to not sway as he stood, slipping his scraped up jacket on. “Perfect.”

Frigga huffed at him, looking unconvinced but not arguing with him on it. He followed her out of the room, the silence in the sterile halls unnerving him even more than he already was. A young nurse at the station opened her mouth and moved to stand, presumably to ask them what they were doing, but another, older nurse yanked her back down, giving a hard shake of her head at the young woman's quizzical look.

Thor was antsy in the passenger seat of his mother's SUV, his foot bouncing on the floor and sweat coating his skin. It was nearly eleven pm and everything was bathed in the orange glow of streetlights, the air distinctly cooler than it had been in the early afternoon when he and Loki had left his house. Bile rose in Thor's throat as he remembered how Loki had whined about going to the party. Maybe if they'd just _stayed-_

He took a shaky breath and closed his eyes, the flicker from the lights as they passed was making him dizzy, and leaned forward with his elbows braced on his thighs as he held his head in his hands. His mother said nothing, only reaching over to cup the back of his neck and giving it a comforting squeeze.

He felt oddly numb as they pulled in to the clubhouse, like he was in a fog as he walked inside with his mother. Everyone was there already, talking in hushed voices and going silent as they walked in.

Thor stood there for a moment, meeting their collective gaze with a confidence he really didn't have at the moment. “Well?” he said, looking over to his father. “What are we doing?”

“We're trying to figure that out,” Odin answered gruffly. Jerking his head to a table where Heimadall and Fandral sat, one speaking softly in to a phone while the other typed away on a laptop, he added. “Heimdall is trying to figure out who exactly from Jotunheim is still alive, so we'll know what we're dealing with.”

Thor clenched his jaw and nodded, pacing to relieve his ever-growing tension. Everyone else went back to their conversations while Frigga went to Odin. Thor just prowled in the background, feeling useless and angry.

Sif was the first to approach, checking him with her shoulder gently. “Lets go get some fresh air.”

Thor sighed. He spared another glance in to the room. Everyone was too quiet, an eerie calm over everything as they waited for the bomb to drop. He looked back to Sif and gave a slight nod to his head, following her out the clubhouse.

Being outside didn't settle his nerves much, but the cool air helped him breath bit more easily. They sat down on a bench a few feet from the door, saying nothing for a few minutes as moths and other bugs buzzed around a nearby floodlight.

“How are you doing?”

Thor couldn't help but let out a derisive scoff of laughter at the question. “Really?”

Sif shrugged. “Better than just sitting here.”

Thor leaned forward and sighed again, bracing his elbows on his knees, rubbing a hand on his forehead. His headache had smoothed out in to a dull consistent throb, overshadowed by the nervous flutter and ache in his heart. “I'm not okay...”

Sif exhaled audibly next to him, her hand coming to rest on his shoulder. “I know.”

With the sudden urge to move, he shook her off and stood, pacing in front of the bench as she watched. “I'm sick of just fucking sitting around and _waiting_. We know where he is _lets just fucking go-_ ”

“Thor,” Sif interrupted, her voice stern, “I know you care about Loki, but you're going to do something stupid if you don't get a goddamn grip.”

Boots slamming on to the concrete harder, Thor growled. She was right, he _knew_ that, but everything was screaming for him to _go get Loki_. Thoughts of what could happen – or _be_ happening – to him making Thor want to tear the fucking world in half.

They went silent again, the sound of his own heartbeat thumping in his head as he paced endlessly. He stopped and turned at the sound of the door opening, Fandral's head popping out from behind it.

“We've found our guy.”

“Byleistr,” Heimdall said when they had joined the others, tapping on the screen of the laptop where a mugshot was pulled up, “one of Laufey's son's. He was in prison until about four months ago.”

Thor took a deep breath through his nose at the all too familiar face on the screen, skin crawling at the cold stare. “What for?” he asked.

Heimdall hesitated, glancing over to his parents before answering. “Assault with a deadly weapon.”

Thor nodded, chewing on his thumbnail as he stared at the screen. He zoned out, eyes unfocused as everyone around him talked, only to be snapped out of his daze by his father's hand on his shoulder.

“Come here,” he ordered quietly. Thor followed him to his office, leaning against the wall as he shut the door. He watched as his father, waiting for him to speak first. He seemed to be deep in thought as he stood at the other side of the room.

“You need to stay here.”

“What!?” Thor snapped, pushing off the wall.

His father lifted a finger to silence him. “I can't risk having you do something stupid-”

“So I'm supposed to just sit here and wait? Trust you to get Loki after you've done everything to make him feel unwelcome and untrusted-”

“I'm trying to keep _you_ and the club safe!”

“ _I'm_ the one Byleistr shot. He ran _me_ off the road took Loki from _me_.” Thor's voice rose higher and higher, glaring back at his father with overwhelming rage. “This is my fight! You can't tell me to just sit back and wait!”

Odin hissed through his teeth, “this is _exactly_ why you need to stay back. We don't know what he has planned, you go there like this and your liable to get yourself and Loki killed.”

“It's one fucking guy-”

“One guy whose managed to evade us for months. One guy whose managed to put you in the hospital twice. One guy with a _very_ big grudge.”

Thor growled pulling at his own hair in frustration. Deep down he knew his father was right, he was being irrational, erratic. It was dangerous. _He didn't care_.

“You need to stay right here,” his father repeated, his voice broking no more arguments. He walked past Thor, leaving him in the office to seethe alone.

He sunk in to the chair in front of his father's desk and waited. He didn't move until he heard the thumps of boots and the collective roar of motorcycles before he coming back out. His mother had stayed behind, the look of worry that had been etched on her face for hours now had turned in to something a with a harder edge.

“I'm not staying here.”

The corner of her mouth twitched upwards. “I know, sweetheart.”


	17. Chapter 17

“There's one of you and ten of them, what are you expecting to do, _honestly?_ ”

Byleistr chuckled, “wouldn't _you_ like to know” and continued flicking his finger over the screen of Thor's phone. They were in a small room that looked like it was once used as an office, a broken and rotted wooden desk shoved to one corner, the dingy snot yellow paint has  peeling from the walls. The air inside was stale and mildew-y despite the large cracks between the plywood boards that covered the broken windows. Byleistr chuckled again at something on Thor's phone, awwing sarcastically and flipping the phone to Loki. “How fucking _precious_.” 

Loki looked at the picture he pulled up before leveling another glare at his kidnapper. It was one he took when Thor was still on painkillers, constantly drowsy and out of it. They were snuggled on the couch, with Thor practically laying on top of Loki, his eyes half-open and his sleepy smile pressed to Loki's hair. “Fuck you,” he spat back.

Byleistr laughed and turned the phone back, pacing the room slowly as he looked at the rest of the phone's contents. Loki sagged in the chair, watching him for lack of anything better to do. He wasn't scared like he should haven been, he was just... _pissed_. 

Byleistr stopped, turning on a heel to slump against the wall across from him. “So, Loki, what about you? I gotta say, you were particularly hard to find any information about. You gotta family? How do they feel about this whole...” Byleistr held the phone up with another picture of him and Loki on it, gesturing at it as he said, “ _romance._ ”

Loki just stared at him. 

Byleistr laughed quietly at his non-answer, flipping the phone back to himself. “Or did Thor kill them just to snatch _lil' ol' you_ up? Seems like his sort of thing.”

Loki couldn't stop his lip from curling at that. “It's not _his thing_ , fuckface.”

“Oooh, so _mean_.”

Loki huffed, shifting as much as he could in his seat.

“But seriously, what's your whole story? We've got some time to kill, so feel free to go in to as much detail as you'd like.”

“There _is_ no story. I don't have a dad, my deadbeat mom abandoned me, and here we are now.”

Byleistr crossed his arms over his chest, the smile that slithered on to his face making his scar more prominent. “So you call Thor daddy or something? He does seem a bit old for you.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “You think _I_ have daddy issues? I'm not the one going on a _nutjob rampage-_ ”

Byleistr's face contorted in to a snarl as he shot off the wall, mouth opening to say something when there was a clang from somewhere in the main part of the factory. The both of them went still. Byleistr stared at him for a moment longer, saying nothing as he turned skulked out of the room. 

Loki sucked in a breath. “ _Finally_.” Twisting his arms, he reached for the knife still tucked in to his jeans. Heart pounding in his ears, he held the warm metal with a death grip and opened the blade carefully, doing his best to not slice himself as he flipped it around to cut in to the plastic binding his wrists. He hissed as the blade scraped against the his skin, gritting his teeth as he continued to push the knife against the plastic. His hands began to ache and cramp from the strange angle he had to contort them in.

He felt a surge of relief as the plastic gave with a little snap. With shaking hands he frantically cut the plastic ties that tethered each of his ankles to the legs of the chair before folding the knife back up and shoving it back in to the waist of his jeans. Crouching down as he tiptoed across the floor, he peered out in to the moonlit main floor of the factory to see if Byleistr was near. When it seemed the coast was clear enough he carefully made his way out. Still stepping lightly and keeping himself low to the ground, he ran, ducking at the end of a row of old, rusted out pieces of machinery. He made his way around the perimeter of the floor, his eyes darting constantly for the sight of Byleistr. He froze as he heard another clang, then an annoyed grumble. He raised his head from behind the broken down machine he hid behind and watch as Byleistr marched back towards the office. Loki ran full speed down the row, making it in to the wide center aisle and towards a set of exit doors.

“Fuck! That fucking slippery piece of shit.”

Loki let out a breathy laugh over his shoulder.

When he looked forward again Loki skidded to a stop, falling hard on his ass. Wrapped around the door handles was a chain, a thick padlock connecting the ends, and then he was hit with the pungent smell of gasoline. Squinting, he looked around, spying a few drying puddles staining the concrete, some bright red cans tossed in a pile nearby. Loki shuddered, suddenly having a _very_ clear idea of what Byleistr was planning.

“There you are, you little fucker,” Byleistr snarled from behind him. Loki shoved himself to his feet, just managing to duck out of his grip and running past him. Veering in to one of the the rows of machinery again, Loki ran as fast as he could, his lungs and legs burning. He squeezed through the small spaces between them, shoving things to the ground along the way to try and trip up Byleistr. 

It didn't work though, or he must've slowed down enough for Byleistr to catch up to him, as his arm got wrenched back and he was forced around. There was a blur of light and pain as Byleistr swung his fist in to Loki's face, tasting blood as it gushed from his nose. He kicked and punched back at Byleistr wildly, each hit of his own met with another from Byleistr. They snarled and cursed as they fought each other viciously, falling against the machinery and then on to the concrete floor. Loki gasped raggedly as he felt hands squeeze around his throat, squirming beneath Byleistr's weight. 

Byleistr grinned maniacally as he pressed down on Loki's throat. “You know? I was going going to let you see Thor one last time, but it might be more fun to see the look on his face when he sees your body.”

Loki sneered, frantically yanking his knife from the waistband of his jeans while his vision started to tunnel. He flipped it open, gripped it tight, and stabbed as hard as he could in to Byleistr's side. He let out a howl of pain and shock, his hands instantly letting off Loki's throat. Loki gasped for air and bucked Byleistr off him while he was still to stunned to fight back, scrambling through the rubble while Byleistr dragged himself up with a string of angry curses.

Loki froze at the sound of rumbling outside.

“Shit!”

Loki's feet unstuck from the floor as he heard Byleistr's begin to shuffle towards him. He had to have at least one set of doors unlocked. He ran past another set of locked doors and went in the direction of the last set. He fell to the ground as a bullet bounced off one of the machines right next to his head. He got to his hands and knees and began to crawl along the floor, hardly able to hear anything over his pulse pounding in his ears. 

Headlights flashed through the broken windows and with a sudden rush of hope Loki shoved himself on to his feet and sprinted towards the door, his hands reaching for the handles.

There was another gunshot. Then an intense, burning pain in the front of his thigh. His leg collapsed underneath him, leaving him a screaming heap on the floor.

“ _Loki!?_ ”

Loki let out another sob before pushing himself on to his hands and knees to crawl towards the door. Byleistr grabbed Loki, his hand tight on Loki's throat as he yanked him up on to his feet and dragged him farther back in to the factory again, gun pressed firmly to Loki's temple.

The doors flew open seconds later. Loki recognized Thor's silhouette, back-lit by headlights. He clawed at Byleistr's arm as he wheezed Thor's name. 

“You better be _real_ fucking careful if you don't want to watch your boytoy's brains get blown out, buddy.” Loki winced, Byleistr's voice loud and harsh in his ear.

Thor's shoulders tensed, his hand curled in to fists. He stepped inside, shutting the doors behind himself to at chorus of disapproval.

“I want everyone to get in here,” Byleistr said, voice quieter. “Every one of you goddamn assholes.”

At that, Thor laughed. “I don't think that's gonna happen, _buddy_.”

Byleistr growled, squeezing Loki's throat as he ground the gun in to Loki's temple. “I'm not playing a fucking game here.”

Loki couldn't hold back the strained whimper that rose from his throat, pain flaring from his leg to the top of his head.

“Let go of him,” Thor warned, walking farther inside.

“Not until I get what I want!” Loki winced as Byleistr's voice rose sharply. “Have the rest come inside.”

Thor stayed silent, marching closer. Loki could feel Byleistr's hands shaking, breath gusting against his cheek with each shallow breath. Slowly, he reached for his knife, his own hand trembling as he did.

“Get the rest inside,” Byleistr demanded again.

“What the _hell_ made you think they were ever going to just walk in to whatever fucking trap you've got set up here?” Thor asked, voice low and steady.

Byleistr growled again, yanking roughly on Loki's throat as he shouted back, “you _really_ want your little fucktoy dead, don't you!?”

Loki could almost feel the murderous thoughts rolling from Thor as his eyes narrowed at Byleistr. Loki pulled his knife out and unfolded the sticky blade with a snick. Without hesitation he swung his arm out and stabbed backwards, sinking it in to Byleistr's thigh. He wrenched himself out of Byleistr's grip while he howled in pain, running straight for Thor. He pulled Loki to his chest and spun them both behind a hunk of rusted metal as shots rang out. Loki curled against Thor's chest, his eyes shut tight. 

Byleistr let out in a ragged yowl as his gun unloaded it's last shot, followed by metal clunking and scrapping on the ground. He could hear Frigga's voice calling from outside.

Loki managed to sputter out, “he's got gas poured everywhere.”

As if in cue, there was a _woosh_. Byleistr cackled. Flickering orange light begun to rise up behind them, spreading fast. Thor dragged them to their feet, gripping Loki's arm they ran towards the door. Pain lanced up Loki's leg as he took another hobbled step, making him cry out as he knee buckled.

“ _YOU KILLED MY FAMILY!_ ” Byleistr screamed as he tossed a lit match in their direction, voice raw. “It's only fair I kill yours too!” Fire burst up in to the air and Thor was quick to manhandle Loki back on to his feet.

“Come on babe, we've gotta get out,” Thor said, hugging him around the waist to help him limp along.

“ _No!_ ” Byleistr shot forward, seeming to ignore the bloody gash in his thigh as he ran past them to slam the doors shut. Loki felt his stomach roll as he glanced around the factory, flames spreading all over the floor and up the walls. He looked back as Byleistr began to laugh, the sound of it frantic and high pitched. Loki could see the large bloodstains from his stab wounds, the fire casting strange shadows on his pale face. Thor began walking again, Loki keeping up as much as he could. They stopped in front of Byleistr, his laughter dying off in to shallow panting. Thor reached out and calmly grabbed him by the throat, pulling him away from the door as he released Loki.

“Go outside,” Thor said, his eyes never leaving Byleistr's face. “Mom's out there waiting.”

Loki hesitated and Thor glanced to him, the hard look on his face softening. “I'll be right out, I just don't want you to see this.”

Loki nodded and pulled one of the heavy doors open just enough to squeeze out of it, having to use all of his body weight just to do _that_. He gasped as he crumpled to the gravel outside, his limbs shaking and goosebumps prickling over his skin as the cold air washed over it.

“Loki!” Frigga ran to him, crouching down and hugging him under his armpits to help drag him towards the the SUV.

From inside there was a ragged scream. From behind them came the rumble of engines. The rumbling got louder and louder, until it was almost deafening while the screams tapered off. 

“What the hell are you doing here!?” Odin shouted as he made his way to the front of the SUV, stopping short at the sight of Loki, his eye widening.

“Where the fuck were all of _you?_ ” Frigga snapped back. Loki closed his eyes and shuddered and Frigga squeezed him a little tighter. 

Thor stumbled out of the factory a second later, skin spattered with blood and slicked with sweat. His friends ran up to him, their voices garbling together as they talked over each other. Thor pushed past them with out a word, sinking to his knees beside Loki and his mother.

Loki reached out and clawed his hands in to Thor's shirt, pulling himself in to Thor's arms and burying his face in the crook of his neck as he began to sob.

Scooping Loki's legs up as best he could in one of his arms, he stood with a huff and carried Loki in to the backseat of the SUV. Loki looked over Thor's shoulder at the rest of the club, their expressions hard to read with how much pain he was in. When Loki was settled in Thor's lap, Frigga got in to the front seat and started it up.

“I've got you babe, I've got you,” Thor whispered, his face tucked against Loki's.

Loki nodded, curled his fist in to Thor's hair and let his eyes slide closed.

\- - -

Loki woke in the hospital, Thor's hand gently cupped over his as he slept in a chair beside his bed. Loki turned his hand over to grasp Thor's.

“Hey,” Thor croaked a minute later. Loki looked up and returned the smile Thor aimed at him. Thor dragged the chair closer and asked, “how you feeling?”

Loki shrugged. “I dunno. Tired.”

Thor nodded and leaned forward to press a kiss to Loki's temple, raking his free hand through Loki's hair as he leaned back.

“Will you lay in bed with me?” Loki asked, sounding more pitiful than intended.

Thor glanced at the open door. He gave Loki's hand a squeeze before letting go and standing, walking across the the room to slowly shut it and twist the blinds closed. Loki scooted over as Thor toed off his boots and slid the railings on the side of the bed down, molding himself to Thor's side as he laid down. Thor carefully wrapped his arm around Loki's shoulders and pressed another kiss to Loki's forehead when they were both comfortable.

“We can go on that road trip now.”

There was a pause and then Thor laughed. “Yeah, I guess we can. After I get my bike fixed, and your leg heals, and when I don't feel like vomiting when I look at a bright light. After all that, we are definitely going on that road trip.”

Loki smiled in to Thor's shoulder, his eyes fluttering closed as Thor ran a hand through his hair.

“Love you.”

Loki sighed happily, “love you too.”


	18. Chapter 18

Thor knocked on the bedroom door. “Ready to go, babe?”

“ _Just about! I'll be out in a minute_ ,” Loki answered, voice muffled through the door.

“I'm gonna go wait by the bike.”

“ _'Kay!_ ”

Thor slipped on his jacket over his sweatshirt as he stepped out the front door, taking a deep breath of the cold air with a smile. He walked to the garage, checking the lock once more and giving the door a quick tug to make sure it was secured. He then turned to his bike - the fresh red paint standing out starkly against the grey and browns surrounding it - patting his hand on the new, bigger seat as he came to stand beside it. He pulled out his phone, new as well, and sent a text to his mom, telling her they were just about to head off.

The phone buzzed a half-minute later. _Ok. Be careful and call me whenever you stop tonight._

Thor smiled. _Ok. Love you._

_Love you both_. He sighed and shoved the phone in to his pocket. He felt excitement thrumming under his skin. Just him and Loki, traveling for as long as they could stand it.

Odin hadn't liked it when he told him of their road trip, the conversation quickly turning in to a full on blow out that led to Thor stomping out of his parents' house, his mother watching with a worried frown. His father had lightened up only slightly with his distrust of Loki after the whole ordeal, grumbling something about Laufey under his breath when Thor snapped one day and asked him what the fuck his problem was.

Thankfully, everyone else was happy to bring Loki in to the fold afterwords. There'd been a cookout a few weeks after Loki had been let out of the hospital, and everyone was eager to hear about what had happened. Loki had told them the whole story after Thor deflected his friends' praises, saying that Loki manged to fuck the guy up pretty good and all he had to do was finish. Loki was shy at first, his hand trembling as he took a sip of soda while talking about how they'd been run off the road. He got into it quickly though, obviously enjoying how he had gotten the full attention of Thor's friends. By the end of it Thor could tell Loki had won over pretty much anyone who had still had any lingering doubts about him.

A bit later he had dragged Loki in to his lap, drunkenly mumbling about how proud he was, how much he loved him, and how fucking hot he looked in those jeans. Come to think of it, that might've been part of Odin's problem.

Glancing down his quiet street he felt... relaxed. No strange cars in sight. Everything was quiet, since most of the birds had already flown off for the season, leaving nothing but the sound of wind blowing through the naked branches of trees.

He took a deep breath and he could've swore he smelled smoke from somewhere in the distance. The images it brought up were still vivid; Loki squeezing out the door of the factory, the flames climbing up the walls and towards them, the pained, panicked look that came over Byleistr's face as he fully realized that his plans had crumbled to dust and the remains were being blown away. He had lashed out one final time, his hits weak, halfhearted.

If Thor had had his way he would've made it last, get back _something_ from all those hours searching, getting shot, taking Loki. But Loki and his mother were outside waiting for him, and the flames were spreading fast. He moved his hand to the collar of Byleistr's blood stained shirt, pinned him to the nearest piece of machinery and pummeled him one-handed. Let the fury that had been simmering under his skin since he came to in the ditch and realized Loki was gone take over. He pulled back when Byleistr slumped in his grip and sweat poured down in to his own eyes. Byleistr's nose had gone crooked and blood seeped from his parted lips, sadness and resignation filling his eyes. He had made a pained noise as Thor dragged him back up and pulled him closer to the fire. He didn't fight. Thor pushed him in to the flames.

Thinking about it later, when he'd calmed down and the dust had begun settling, Loki in his arms, he could understand why Byleistr did what he did.

Loki's head popped out from the front door, jerking Thor from his thoughts.

“Close your eyes,” he called out.

Thor raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Just do it.”

Thor sighed, sounding more exasperated than he felt, and cupped his hands over his eyes. He heard a bit of shuffling and the door being shut, a few jiggles of the doorknob to make sure it was locked.

“Okay,” Loki said a second later.

Thor moved his hands. Loki, walking towards him with a slightest limp, had his hands behind his back. He wore the mischievous smirk Thor loved so much, the rest of him all bundled up in a sweatshirt and his own leather jacket. Thor could feel the dopey smile on his face get bigger as he got closer.

“Have I told you I loved you today?”

Loki scrunched his nose like he was giving the question serious thought as he came to a stop in front of Thor. “Only like, thirty times I think. Maybe thirty-five.”

Thor frowned in mock-disappointment. “ _Damn_ , I've been slacking.”

Loki leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “I'm sure you'll find _some_ way to make up for it.”

“You know it,” Thor said with a wink. He held out his hands and made grabby motions at Loki. “Gimme my present.”

Loki grinned. He brought both hands forward to reveal a pair of helmets. One a deep green, the other the same shade of red as his bike. “And you _have_ to wear it. Mom says so.”

Thor groaned, dragged a hand over his face. “Guess I should have expected this.”

Loki pushed the red one in to Thor's chest with a small laugh. Thor took it with only a _little_ bit of whining. Loki moved to put his on and Thor stopped him with a hand on his wrist. He pulled Loki forward, moving his hand to cup the back of Loki's neck as he dragged him in to a deep kiss. They both let out happy sighs as they pulled back, his eyes raking up and down Loki's body. Thor suddenly noticed something, and it must've shown on his face.

“What?” Loki asked, head tilting.

Thor smiled. “Have you gotten taller?”

Loki responded with a shrug and a laugh. Thor gave him another kiss.

He tugged his helmet on after forcing himself to pull back(since they might _never_ leave at this rate) and climbed on to his bike, kicking up the stand. “Which way are we going?”

Loki slipped on his helmet, tightening the strap under his chin a little, before climbing on. He moved carefully to not knock the bags hanging off the side of the bike. “I wanna see mountains,” he answered when he was settled comfortably behind Thor.

Thor smiled. He patted Loki's knee hovering at his side. “We'll go see some mountains, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!
> 
> (Ugh, I never know what to write here.)
> 
> Thank you immensely to everyone whose read, kudos'd, and commented, it really means the world to me. I loved writing this story(even when it was a pain in the ass - I'm no good at a plot that doesn't revolve solely around getting these two screw) and it makes me so happy that other people enjoyed it too. (And don't fret too much - I have a couple of oneshots planned that go a bit in to the future with them!)
> 
> THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU ALL! I'm gonna go be weepy for a while now.


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